MONTREAL, (Reuters) – Canada’s chief executive should improve his French in an annual board review. According to a government official, Monday’s language dispute was causing problems for the airline.

Michael Rousseau CEO, Air Canada, said last week that his French proficiency was improving and apologized for comments suggesting he could not speak French.

In Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking province that is second in population, language remains an issue. This was where the unhappiness with English’s dominance helped to lead to the formation of Parti Quebecois in 1970s.

Rousseau’s comment and the decision to deliver a speech in English almost completely drew criticism from Justin Trudeau in Canada, and Montreal.

Air Canada wasn’t immediately available to comment.

In a letter to Air Canada’s board made public on Monday, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland said Rousseau’s ability to communicate in French “should be incorporated as one of his key performance goals established by the board and play an important part in the board’s evaluation of his annual performance.”

Freeland is Canada’s finance minister and said that French proficiency should be a requirement for senior roles at the airline.

Ottawa took over Air Canada as part of a panademic package.

Freeland stated in the letter, that Ottawa has approximately 6% ownership of Air Canada’s stock outstanding and is therefore one of Canada’s biggest shareholders.

Freeland said that this issue raised questions about Air Canada’s governance regarding the French-language treatment within its management ranks.