The “management” of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) will be summoned to the Standing Committee on Official Languages following the outcry caused by the absence of Francophones on the board of directors of the country’s largest rail carrier.
The committee unanimously adopted a motion for such effect filed by the deputy spokesman for the official languages of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Alexandre Boulerice, Monday afternoon, at a meeting.
The motion specified that members of CN management would be summoned soon for a two -hour meeting to answer parliamentarians ’questions about respect for official languages within its board of directors and within the company.
However, this does not indicate that CN CEO Tracy Robinson is expected to appear. When she was appointed in January, Ms. Robinson began taking French language lessons so he 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 locked up while waiting for the storm to pass and expecting people to look elsewhere. All we want is for them to go and tell us what happened, why, is it a habit they want to keep, do they have any adjustments they want to make?explained Mr. Boulerice in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will also be called to inform the committee what the government intends to do to ensure compliance with the Official Languages Act in CN.
The original motion was amended to also invite the Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, as he is responsible for law enforcement.
A controversy erupted last week when it was made public that CN was not retaining any French -speaking candidate for its board of directors.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was blown away according to the situation and the company announced on the same day that it would rectify the situation thanks to the conclusion of the directors ’orders in the coming months .
Mr. stated. Trudeau said the country’s Francophones should sit on the boards of directors of all major national companies, but he declined to say whether the new version of the Official Languages Act should include rules on the composition of groups. it by administrators.
Red lights turn on
The controversy continued Monday morning in front of the Standing Committee on Transport, where Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval questioned a CN vice-president, Sébastien Labbé, who came to testify on the state of Canada’s supply chain.
I feel like we are not on the same planethe launched after five minutes. I have the impression that you have no problem with it and you see nothing. And I have the impression that on our side, red lights are on.
During the interrogation, the Bloc Québécois returned to the case, in which House leader Alain Therrien pointed out that the Trudeau government was in no position to rip its shirt off when it appointed unilingual anglophones to Governor positions. General and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, the only official bilingual province.
In a partial response in French, Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said in English, sparking laughter, that CN knew Ottawa was looking into the situation. not acceptable.
Will Bill C-13 reverse the situation?
The Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, for her part reiterated her anger and affirmed that that’s why we’re moving forward with Bill C-13, a bill with more teeth, that will give the commissioner more tools to do his job.
In response to a request for clarification on how the bill would 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 he was referring instead to a previous comment that all Canadians should be delivered in the official language of their choice by federally chartered businesses.
The History of Air Canada
Last fall, the CEO of Air Canada, another company subject to the Official Languages Act, made headlines when he gave a speech that was mainly delivered in English in Montreal. Michael Rousseau is also proud that he lived for 14 years in the metropolitan city without speaking French.
A preliminary report by the Commissioner of Official Languages released in early April ruled that complaints about the speech were well -founded.
Mr. Rousseau had a difficult time with his appearance a month ago before the official languages committee. He made sure the French were a priority for the air carrier, which did not impress the Members.
Source: Radio-Canada
