OTTAWA, March 25 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mark Carney

on Wednesday criticized Air Canada ( ACDVF ) CEO Michael Rousseau

for expressing condolences after a fatal crash in English and

not in French, Canada's second official language.

Carney told reporters that Rousseau had shown a lack of judgment

and said he expected the airline's board to make a statement. An

Air Canada ( ACDVF ) jet struck a fire truck on Sunday night as it landed

at New York's LaGuardia airport, killing both pilots.

Although Air Canada ( ACDVF ) is officially bilingual, Rousseau - a

native English-speaker - issued a four-minute video that only

featured two words in French. Parliament's language committee

voted on Tuesday to summon him to Ottawa to discuss the matter.

"I'm very disappointed - as others are, rightly so - in this

unilingual message of the CEO of Air Canada ( ACDVF ) ... (it shows) a

lack of judgment, a lack of compassion," Carney said.

"I will follow his comments (to committee) closely, and

comments which I would expect in due course from the board of

directors," he continued.

Air Canada ( ACDVF ) was not immediately available for comment.

Language is a sensitive issue in Canada, particularly in

predominantly French-speaking Quebec, the second-most populous

of the 10 provinces.

Unhappiness over the dominance of English helped the rise of

the separatist Parti Quebecois in the 1970s, and the party has a

commanding poll lead ahead of a provincial election due this

year. It is promising to hold another referendum on independence

if it wins. PQ governments held two such votes in 1980 and 1995.

This is not the first time Rousseau has found himself in trouble

over language. In 2021, Canada's government said he should

improve his French as part of his annual board review, prompting

him to promise to do better.

As part of a COVID-19 pandemic bailout package, Ottawa took a 6%

stake in the airline in 2021. It sold the holding last December.