The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Air Canada's outgoing chief executive officer, Michael Rousseau, could have benefited from a small piece of advice: Think before you speak. The Globe's Rita Trichur writes that his blunder was offering his condolences in a by-and-large English video message after a collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport killed two Canadian pilots, including a francophone. Ditto for the airline's directors, who have spent years offering Canadians double-speak about the importance of French. Mr. Rousseau is not solely to blame for his latest faux pas. Indeed, this foul-up points to failures of corporate governance at the flag carrier. The issue is not whether the top executive at Air Canada should speak French: That should be a basic job requirement to lead a Montreal company. A CEO cannot lead if he (or she) is incapable of communicating with staff and customers. Rather, the buck stops with the board for appointing Mr. Rousseau to the CEO role in the first place, given his language limitations. That error was compounded in 2021, when chair Vagn Soerensen said Mr. Rousseau was committed to learning French and that it would be "an integral part" of his performance evaluation.