The Association des gens de l’air, founded on September 19, 1975 by a group led by Roger Demers, gets its hands on CALPA’s internal note and submits it to the attention of the Federal Minister of Transport and the media. Le Devoir headlines: “As a protest against the French, multiply the incidents,” CALPA told the pilots. A commission of inquiry is established by the Minister and will conclude: “The evidence on file shows that operating efficiency will not be affected” and that “implementation will not entail any significant costs. ” It is estimated that the linguistic struggle waged by this association was one of the ingredients that allowed the election of the Parti Québécois in November 1976. It was from that year that the government gradually authorised the use of French in aeronautical communications in Quebec (VFR and IFR) and later in the Ottawa capital region as well as at some airports in Acadia. One of the last barriers had just fallen for Francophones. Sources: : Magazine de l’aviation and Journal des gens de l’air, l’approche directe, from the AQ website, and from the book Au temps des premières ailes, by Pierre Thiffault, Éditions Typographe
See also the article of JULY 7 1977 page A7 in Le Soleil: Roger Demers “chevalier du ciel”, québécois d’abord!