The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) should “lead by example” by appointing Francophones to its board of directors, although it is not obligated to do so, the federal Minister of Transportation argued Monday. Omar Alghabra.
I still believe that while the law is quiet, CN needs to lead by example and show leadership to its employees and customers.said the Minister in an address to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Mr. Alghabra, who is studying French himself, said the government found out not acceptable the absence of francophones on the CN board of directors and that the message of having at least one Quebec francophone on the board of directors was very clearly sent to the former Crown corporation. Loud and clearhe said twice.
Just this [une] pat on fingersejaculation of Conservative MP Richard Lehoux, he asked.
The Minister also recalled that the largest rail carrier in the country, such as Air Canada, is a private companyand it has no power to appoint persons to their board of directors.
The truth is there is really nothing the Government of Canada can do except to suggest to them or fail when they don’t.summed up by Conservative MP Bernard Généreux after the minister repeated that CN has obligations.
Mr. Généreux also criticized him for not proposing real solutions to remedy the situation.
The limitations of the Official Languages Act
The Minister regularly referred to Bill C-13 which seeks to modernize the Official Languages Act to protect the rights of clients and employees to serve and work in the official language of their choice.
However, not included in the bill no use, no way to impose the appointment of francophones on the boards of directors of companies subject to the Official Languages Act, the committee’s Conservative vice-chairman, Joël Godin, reminded him at the outset.
Mr. Godin, who is campaigning for the government to impose a minimum number of Francophones on companies subject to the Official Languages Act, added that he relies on good faith of CN managers may not be perfect, because the past guarantees the future.
Speaking, Bloc vice-president Mario Beaulieu first noticed a noticeable improvement in the minister’s practice in French.
We see that you have a great teacher, perhaps better than Mr. [Michael] Rousseauthe CEO of Air Canada, he said, bursting into laughter in the room.
Mr. Beaulieu asked him if his appointment, as a unilingual Anglophone, sends a pretty funny message, because it’s pretty similar to what’s happening on CN.
Not all Canadians speak the same language, replied the minister. Mr. Alghabra also mentioned the importance of the French in Canada, the importance of Quebec in Canada and the fact that Quebec is a unique country within Canada.
A security issue, according to the NDP
NDP MP Niki Ashton, for her part, stressed the security issue represented by Molière’s language misunderstanding by CN employees.
If railway companies do not have superintendents who understand and speak French […], it can lead to dangerous situations, he said. We have cases where we need translators to perform maneuvers.
Faced with a minister promoting C-13, Ms. asked him. Ashton if it will take wait for an accident related to a misunderstanding of instructions between members of a team to occur.
MP Beaulieu later joined the fight, insisting that the risk of an accident was very real if, for example, a controller did not understand important instructions.
The CN leadership will be called to the committee where it will be questioned following the outcry caused by the absence of Francophones on its board of directors.
Source: Radio-Canada
