Official languages ​​committee to summon CN leadership

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“We want them to explain themselves,” says NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice.

The Canadian Press

michel saba

“What we want is for them to come and tell us what happened, why, is it a habit they want to keep, do they have any corrective measures they want to take?” says NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette files

The “management” of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) will be summoned before the Standing Committee on Official Languages ​​​​following the outcry caused by the absence of francophones on the board of directors of the largest rail carrier in the country.

The committee unanimously adopted a motion to that effect tabled by the deputy spokesperson for official languages ​​​​of the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice, Monday afternoon during a meeting.

The motion specifies that members of CN management will be called “as soon as possible” for a two-hour meeting “to answer questions from parliamentarians concerning respect for official languages ​​​​within its board of directors and within the company”.

It does not, however, indicate that CN CEO Tracy Robinson is expected to appear. When she was appointed in January, Ms. Robinson had started taking French lessons so she could communicate with CN employees and customers and “take full advantage of the experience of living in Quebec.”

“We want them to explain themselves. We don’t want them to be able to lock themselves in while waiting for the storm to pass and hoping that people will look elsewhere. What we want is for them to come and tell us what happened, why, is it a habit they want to keep, do they have any corrective measures they want to take?” Boulerice explained in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will also be called to inform the committee of what the government intends to do to ensure compliance with the Official Languages ​​Act at CN.

The original motion was amended to also invite the Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, since he is responsible for enforcing the law.

In a written statement, Conservative language critic Joël Godin said the government “is not showing any intention of ending this unacceptable situation.”

A controversy erupted last week when it was made public that CN had not retained any French-speaking candidates for its board of directors.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “blown away” by the situation and the company announced the same day that it would correct the situation by ending the terms of directors “in the coming months”.

Trudeau had declared that the country’s francophones should sit on the boards of directors of all major national companies, but he had refused to say whether the new version of the Official Languages ​​Act should include terms on the composition of these groups of administrators.

The controversy continued Monday morning before the Standing Committee on Transport, where Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval questioned a CN vice-president, Sébastien Labbé, who had come to testify on the state of Canada’s supply chain.

“I feel like we’re not on the same planet,” he told Labbé after five minutes. “I have the impression that you don’t have a problem with it and you don’t see any. And I have the impression that on our side, it’s red lights that come on.”

During question period, the Bloc Québécois continued to press on the issue, with House leader Alain Therrien pointing out that the Trudeau government is in no position to criticize CN when it has appointed unilingual anglophones to the positions of Governor General and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick , the only officially bilingual province.

In a response made partially in French, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said, in English, that CN is aware that Ottawa finds the situation “unacceptable.”

The Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, for her part reiterated her indignation and affirmed that “it is for this reason that we are moving forward with Bill C-13, a bill that has more bite, which will give the commissioner more tools to do his job.”

In response to a request for clarification on how the bill will force companies subject to the Official Languages ​​Act to have at least one francophone on their board of directors, the minister’s office explained that she was referring instead to a previous comment that all Canadians must be able to be served in the official language of their choice by federally chartered businesses.

Last fall, the CEO of Air Canada, another company subject to the Official Languages ​​​​Act, made headlines when he gave a speech delivered mainly in English in Montreal. Michael Rousseau had also boasted of having been able to live for 14 years in the city without speaking a word of French.

A preliminary report by the Commissioner of Official Languages ​​released in early April concluded that the complaints about the speech are well-founded.

Mr. Rousseau had a difficult time during his appearance a month ago before the official languages ​​​​committee. He assured that French is a “priority” for the air carrier, which did not impress the deputies.

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