Voyageur 71
Rousseau Is Out at Air Canada, and Your Canadian Passport Costs More Starting Tomorrow.
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Rousseau Is Out at Air Canada
Michael Rousseau will step down as Air Canada's CEO by the end of September, the airline said Monday.
The announcement comes after a bruising two weeks. Rousseau's nearly four-minute video addressing the fatal LaGuardia crash (Voyageur 66) contained exactly two fig leafs French words. "Bonjour" at the start, "merci" at the end. Quebec's National Assembly responded with a unanimous 92-0 vote demanding his resignation. Premier François Legault said Rousseau showed a "lack of respect" for francophone employees and passengers.
Rousseau had already drawn fire back in 2021 for admitting he couldn't speak French after five years running the country's biggest airline. That he still couldn't five years later turned a PR stumble into something harder to walk back (Voyageur 69).
Air Canada said a search for his replacement is underway, though the board hasn't named anyone yet. Rousseau stays on through the transition. Shares fell about 2% on the news.
Read more: The Globe and Mail / Bloomberg
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A photo from the old country:
Your Canadian Passport Costs More Starting Tomorrow
Starting tomorrow, most Canadian passport fees go up for the first time since 2013.
The base numbers aren't dramatic. A 10-year adult passport in Canada goes from $160 to $163.50. But if you're renewing from abroad - as a good chunk of this newsletter's readers probably are - you're already paying a $100 premium, and that gap is growing. A 10-year passport from outside Canada will increase from $260 to $266.25.
The rush fees are where it gets interesting. Urgent pickup jumps 14% to $125.75. Weekend or holiday service goes from $335 to $383.50. If your passport expires while you're overseas and you need it fast, it could add up to real money.
Citizenship fees are going up on the same day - the Right of Citizenship fee moves from $119.75 to $123. Permanent residence application fees follow on April 30, with the main processing fee rising from $950 to $990.
And for the first time, these increases will happen automatically every year, tied to Canada's Consumer Price Index. Thirteen years of frozen fees, and now a conveyor belt.