CN grilled for its English-only board

The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) got a symbolic slap on the wrist by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra for its absence of French speakers on its board of directors.

Speaking at a parliamentary committee on official languages on Monday, Alghabra insisted that the situation at CN Rail was “unacceptable” and said he made it very clear to the company that it must be corrected even though the Official Languages Act does not explicitly require their board of directors to have a representation of French speakers.

“I think it is really important that CN and others like Air Canada set a leadership example. Of course, they have a responsibility to meet their obligation under the Official Languages Act. But even on things that may be where the act was silent, they have a responsibility to demonstrate leadership,” said Alghabra during his testimony to MPS, Monday afternoon.

“It's unacceptable that (CN'S) board of directors does not have a francophone representative on it,” he added, all the while admitting that the federal intervention is limited, as CN Rail is a private corporation and he cannot appoint directors.

CN Rail has been heavily criticized in Quebec media over the past weeks after La Presse revealed that the company's board of directors had no French-speaking members since former Quebec premier Jean Charest stepped down unexpectedly to join the federal Conservative leadership race. He had been nominated to the board three weeks prior for a five-year mandate.

Julie Godin, the only other French-speaking board member before him, stepped down last fall to focus on her other professional duties. CEO Tracy Robinson will be the only member representing Quebec on the 11-member board and is said to be taking French lessons.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not mince words toward CN Rail in April, saying he had been shocked to hear that the railway company had not learned from Air Canada's mistakes. CEO Michael Rousseau was chastised by politicians and media alike for a predominantly English speech made in front of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce last fall.

Rousseau told reporters at the time that he had been able to live in the province of Quebec without speaking French for 14 years and that he thought it was “a testament to the City of Montreal” that he had been able to do that. He apologized afterwards for his comments which he admitted were “insensitive” and has been taking French lessons ever since.

Rousseau reiterated his apologies to MPS when he was asked to testify in front of the Official Languages Committee on the “importance of official languages at Air Canada” in March and even said a few sentences in French in his opening statement.

CN Rail's representatives were less apologetic when they testified in front of that same committee.

Sébastien Labbé, one of CN'S vice-presidents, said in April that he was aware of the absence of French-speaking individuals on the company's board of directors and said that the situation would be resolved in the next year, as two of their board members' mandates are ending. Labbé, who is from Quebec and speaks French, offered his opening statement in English only.

The federal government has been urging MPS to adopt C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to strengthen the law and give more powers to the official languages watchdog, but has been facing resistance notably from the Bloc Québécois who sees it as a way of promoting bilingualism.

Alghabra reiterated that plea to the members of the official languages committee on Monday, but was met with little compassion on their end.

The federal government had presented a first bill to modernize the Official Languages Act in June 2021, but it died when Trudeau called an election.