CN Announces Appointment of Tracy Robinson as President and Chief Executive Officer
January 25 2022 - 3:27PM
CN (TSX: CNR, NYSE: CNI) today announced that it has appointed
Tracy Robinson as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a
member of its Board of Directors, effective February 28, 2022. This
appointment follows the previously announced retirement of
Jean-Jacques (“JJ”) Ruest, who will depart CN’s Board on February
28, 2022 but remain at CN in an advisory role until March 31, 2022
to ensure a seamless transition.
Ms. Robinson, who will be joining CN from TC
Energy and previously spent almost three decades at Canadian
Pacific, is a well-respected and seasoned public company executive
who brings more than 35 years of operational management, strategy
development, and project execution experience to drive growth and
profitability to CN. She has a proven track record as an
extraordinary high-performing leader, for which she is highly
regarded within the Canadian federal and provincial regulated
natural gas industry and beyond.
CN also announced several changes to its Board
of Directors. The Company has appointed The Hon. Jean Charest P.C.
as an independent Director. Shauneen Bruder has been appointed Vice
Chair of the Board. By no later than CN’s 2022 Annual General
Meeting (“AGM”), CN will appoint two new independent Directors with
North American railroad experience to the Board.
"We are thrilled to have Tracy join CN as
President and CEO and are confident that CN has the right team to
lead it into the next phase of growth. She brings more than 35
years of operational management, strategy development, and project
execution experience to drive growth and profitability. I would
like to thank Shauneen for leading the Search Committee through a
robust process that identified the right leader to drive growth,
continued operational improvement, technological advancement, and
shareholder value, and attract a world-class workforce.
Additionally, we are pleased to welcome Jean to the Board now and
look forward to welcoming two additional Directors with railroad
experience. Our strategy is well-underway, and we have made
significant progress towards building the railway of the
future." — Robert Pace, Chair of the
Board of Directors of CN
“I have no doubt that Tracy will be an
extraordinary leader for the next phase of CN’s journey and I am
very much looking forward to working closely with her. I want to
express my gratitude to my fellow members of the Board and Search
Committee for their work in this very rigorous and thorough process
and JJ Ruest for the leadership he has provided as CEO since 2018.
We wish JJ all the best in his upcoming
retirement.” —
Shauneen Bruder, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of CN
“This is a transformational period at CN, and I
couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead. Our focus
is on building the railway of the future – one that creates
shareholder value by meeting the needs of our customers, employees,
communities, and the economies that depend on us, safely, reliably,
and efficiently. I look forward to working closely with CN’s
extremely talented railroaders, Board, and management team as we
take CN to the next level of performance and industry leadership. I
also want to say that I respect and value CN’s rich history in
Montréal and in Québec, where the common and official language is
French. I am excited to be returning to the wonderful city of
Montréal, and I have already begun French lessons to ensure I am
able to fully embrace the experience of living in Québec and
communicate with CN’s valued employees and customers across the
continent.” — Tracy Robinson, President
and Chief Executive Officer of CN
Biographies of Tracy Robinson and Jean
Charest
- Tracy Robinson
will join CN from TC Energy, where she is the Executive
Vice-President and President, Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines and
President, Coastal GasLink. Prior to joining TC Energy, Ms.
Robinson spent 27 years at Canadian Pacific, including executive
roles spanning Commercial, Operations, and Finance. Throughout her
professional career, Ms. Robinson has held a number of industry and
private board positions, and currently serves as a member of the
Board of the Business Council of British Columbia and on the
Campaign Committee and the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Edward’s
School of Business of the University of Saskatchewan. She also
represents TC Energy on the Board of the Canadian Gas Association,
is a member of the Business Council of Alberta, and is on the Board
of STARS. Ms. Robinson fully understands and respects Quebec’s rich
cultural and linguistic reality and distinctiveness and has made it
a personal priority to build proficiency in French.
- Jean Charest has
had a public service career spanning almost 30 years, including
serving as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 until 2012. Under
his leadership, Québec experienced a sustained period of economic
prosperity despite a global financial and economic crisis. His
government also implemented a major infrastructure investment
program and was a world leader on the environment and climate
change. Before that, he served as the leader of the federal
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the
Quebec Liberal Party. He currently serves as a Partner in the
Montréal office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP.
CN has entered into a Resolution Agreement with
CIFF Capital and TCI (collectively “TCI”). As part of that
Resolution Agreement, CN and TCI will mutually agree on the
appointment of the two independent Directors to the Board prior to
the 2022 AGM. TCI has agreed to withdraw its requisition for a
Special Meeting of Shareholders, which was previously scheduled to
be held on March 22, 2022, and to support the election of all CN
Director nominees at the 2022 and 2023 AGMs.
About CN
CN is a world-class transportation leader and
trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to
the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300
million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and
finished goods throughout North America every year. As the only
railroad connecting Canada’s Eastern and Western coasts with the
U.S. South through a 19,500-mile rail network, CN and its
affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and
sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs
supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this news release
constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
under Canadian securities laws. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The
Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that
current economic conditions render such assumptions, although
reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater
uncertainty. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the
use of terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,”
“assumes,” “outlook,” “plans,” “targets,” or other similar
words.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other
factors which may cause the actual results or performance of the
Company to be materially different from the outlook or any future
results or performance implied by such statements. Reference should
be made to Management’s Discussion and Analysis in CN’s annual and
interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F, filed with
Canadian and U.S. securities regulators and available on CN’s
website, for a description of major risk factors.
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Jonathan Abecassis |
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Jonathan.Abecassis@cn.ca |
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investor.relations@cn.ca |
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Longview Communications & Public Affairs |
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Martin Cej |
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(403) 512-5730 |
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mcej@longviewcomms.ca |
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United States |
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Brunswick Group |
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Jonathan Doorley / Rebecca Kral |
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(917) 459-0419 / (917) 818-9002 |
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