Good morning. Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is stepping down after widespread backlash from his English‑only condolence video – more on that below, along with the energy crisis in Cairo and another museum heist. But first:

• The U.S. attacks an Iranian nuclear site while Tehran hits an oil tanker off Dubai
• The federal government could prorogue Parliament if the Liberals sweep the April 13 by-elections
• Why the Strait of Hormuz has been a global commerce chokepoint for centuries

More than a week after an Air Canada jet slammed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, much remains uncertain about the deadly crash. Were enough air traffic controllers working the late shift that night? Why didn’t Truck One heed the frantic orders to stop? Could fatigue, or weather, or a mix-up of duties have played a role in the collision? Did the runway’s warning system fail to go off?

But as safety investigators sort through these factors, another question has gripped Canada: Why would the airline’s top executive choose to record a condolence message in English alone? Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau could’ve issued a written statement in both official languages. He could have said nothing or, once it became clear that pilot Antoine Forest was a francophone, asked some bilingual staffer to plug a few French phrases into the teleprompter. Instead, Rousseau responded to the tragedy with a four-minute video containing just two words in French – bonjour at the start and merci at the end. Yesterday morning, it cost him his job.

That’s not, of course, how Air Canada framed Rousseau’s decision to step down by the end of September: The company said its 68-year-old CEO had “reached a natural retirement age.” Still, the move follows widespread outrage over Rousseau’s inability – or unwillingness – to learn passable French, despite taking the helm of the Montreal-based airliner half a decade ago. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “extremely disappointed” by Rousseau’s unilingual video, which “lacks judgment and compassion.” Rousseau apologized on Thursday for pulling focus from the crash’s victims. He sent out that statement in English and French.

Bilingualism isn’t a nice-to-have for Canada’s flagship carrier. The airline started as a Crown corporation, and when it went private in 1988, the sale came with strings attached – namely, an obligation under the Official Languages Act to communicate and provide services in French and English. Air Canada hasn’t exactly lived up to its obligation, though. Every year, the country’s Official Languages Commissioner fields more complaints about the airline than any other institution. Rousseau himself has been the subject of thousands of those complaints.

And that makes last week’s unilingual message all the more perplexing, because Rousseau has been in this position before. Back in 2021, he delivered an English-only speech to Quebec’s business leaders in what was meant to be his coming-out party as Air Canada’s CEO. When a reporter asked, in French, how Rousseau had managed to live in Montreal for 14 years without picking up a bit of the language, he replied: “Could you redo that in English?” Then he said he’d simply been too busy, and regardless, he didn’t need any French to get by, which really was “a testament to the city of Montreal.”

The comments did not go over remotely well, forcing Rousseau to hustle out a pledge to learn some actual French. But he’d made little headway on the language by late 2024, when he appeared before Parliament to defend Air Canada’s new charges for carry-on bags. “I am still taking courses,” Rousseau told the committee, “but at my age, it’s difficult.”

Yesterday, he ran out of time. Carney called Rousseau’s resignation “the right decision,” while the airline said its search for a new CEO is already under way. The company announced it would look both internally and externally for a successor, and that the board would consider a number of criteria when assessing candidates. Pointedly, Air Canada included in that list “the ability to communicate in French.”

Egyptians are rationing power and bracing for food shortages as the war-driven cost of oil soars. Read more from The Globe’s Eric Reguly on the ground in Cairo.

At home: The federal government and Ontario will spend $8.8-billion over the next decade to cut municipal development charges.

Abroad: Israel’s parliament passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure condemned as discriminatory by human rights groups.

Health: As rates of colorectal cancer rise among younger patients, PEI will become the first province to lower the starting age for screening from 50 to 45.