CN looking for a French-speaking administrator

Appointed to the board of directors of Canadian NationalNC in January, Jean Charest submitted his resignation on 1^er April because of his return to politics. Since then, the company has received criticism for the absence of Francophones on its board of directors, while the head office of the Canadian NationalNC is based in Montreal and is subject to the Official Languages ​​Act.

The Chairman of the Board of Canadian NationalNCRobert Pace, issued a written statement on Tuesday, stating that the company respects the rich history of the company in Quebec, where the official language is French and takes great pride in it.

Mr. Pace clarified that the selection process for the new Quebec director would be rigorous and should take a few months.

A situation at to correct

Following the departure of Jean Charest, several political and economic stakeholders considered the situation unacceptable comparing it with the unilingualism of the Chairman and CEO CEOCEO from Air Canada Michael Rousseau, who gave a speech in English only last year in Montreal.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, first and foremost, said to himself blown away that the Canadian NationalNC did not see what happened at Air Canada and learned the lesson obvious to draw from it, adding that he had asked the ministers responsible for make sure the Canadian NationalNC work quickly to rectify the situation.

The Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Luc Berthold, said that the case demonstrated the lack of sensitivityCanadian National NC and above all a lack of respect for the people of Quebec.

In the aftermath, the Canadian NationalNC stated in writing that two of the directors currently serving on the board will complete their terms in the coming months and promising to correct the situationwhile adding that the board of directors was highly aware of the issues.

The Conservatives want an amendment

On Tuesday, the Conservative spokesperson for official languages, Joël Godin, let it be known that his party is preparing an amendment aimed at modernizing the Official Languages ​​Act.

He felt that Ottawa should force companies subject to the Official Languages ​​Act, such as Air Canada and the Canadian NationalNC, to have a minimum proportion of French-speaking directors. Elected officials are currently wondering about the minimum proportion of Francophones and the mechanism for imposing it.

We need a tool to force federally chartered companies to have francophonesdecided Tuesday Mr. Godin, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The current situation, [c’est que] the boards of directors have no obligations and do not even care to respect, so […] there must be laws or regulationshe says, adding that not only do we have the authority to do so, we have the obligation to do so.

For his part, the chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, Liberal MP René Arseneault, says he believes it is very unlikely that the federal government will be able to have such influence over organizations independent of the government and wants to know where is the cut.

The committee he chairs is preparing to study a bill that will allow the Commissioner of Official Languages ​​toimpose orders at Air Canada, insisted last month the Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, before the parliamentary committee.

Bill C-13 will also create a new law that will give the right to work and be served in French by private businesses under federal jurisdiction in regions with a strong francophone presence.

We will start by studying our Bill C-13 here in committee […] and see what the possibilities aresaid Mr. Arseneault, a lawyer by training.

When she entered cabinet, Minister Petitpas Taylor carefully avoided saying whether the government saw fit to add terms to the bill on the composition of boards of directors.

I think we should always have francophones on the boards of directorsdid she say. Its very important. We live in a country that is bilingual.

Fix the problem

The Bloc Québécois would be in favor of the bill adding provisions on the composition of boards of directors. I think so. French should be reinforced as much as possiblesaid Mario Beaulieu, its official languages ​​spokesperson.

Mr. Beaulieu, however, reiterated that his political party would like the new law to specify that all companies established in Quebec are subject to Bill 101, which is not currently the case for companies under federal jurisdiction.

” All parties, except the Liberals, agree that Quebec can apply Bill 101 to businesses under federal jurisdiction, which has a very broad consensus in Quebec. »

Its leader, Yves-François Blanchet, believes that the imposition of a quota of Francophones is possible, although this would represent a legal challengenot to mention that the government does not have the will.

In the New Democratic Party (NDP), Deputy Critic for Official Languages, Alexandre Boulerice, stated that he don’t think it’s up to the feds to dictate who gets hired or not to compose the boards of directors.

” That might go a little too far, but at least I think the Official Languages ​​Act needs to be strengthened, and then give more power to the commissioner to investigate and possibly also impose fines. It would go in the right direction. »

Asked whether Ottawa can force in a bill companies subject to the Official Languages ​​Act to have a minimum percentage of French-speaking directors, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages ​​told The Canadian Press that this question exceeds the commissioner’s mandate.

In a written statement, Commissioner Raymond Théberge, however, maintained thatby appointing bilingual senior executives, Canadian companies with national or international reach can set an example of respect for and appreciation of the official languages, both for their own employees and for the public.