CN will quickly find a French-speaking Quebecer who will sit on its board of directors, promised the new boss of the company, Tracy Robinson, who however did not want to do her act of contrition after the controversy of the last few weeks.

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“On behalf of your company, are you able to apologize to this committee? asked New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice, who had a motion passed a few weeks ago to summon the leaders of the railway company.

Before the official languages ​​committee, Ms. Robinson did not want to apologize to Quebecers, but promised to appoint a French-speaking administrator within a few weeks.

“What I am offering is a commitment to appoint a francophone from Quebec very soon. It is a priority for me and for the board of directors”, she said in French.

In the winter, CN had appointed former premier Jean Charest as a director. But he only stayed a few weeks to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.

“Is one francophone enough? Because normally to reflect Canada's linguistic diversity, there should be at least three Francophones on the Board,” wondered Bloc Québécois MP Mario Beaulieu.

"We've had a history of francophone representation on our board, I'm talking about francophones based in Quebec, sometimes it's multiple members, sometimes just one member," Ms. Robinson replied.

The latter said that French is spoken daily to the company's senior management.

“90% of senior management, here in Quebec, around me speaks French and they do so very actively in the office, which I really appreciate. And almost two-thirds of our leaders in North America speak French,” she said.

Ms. Robinson, who is currently learning the language of Molière, used several French phrases in her opening statement, which was noticed by Conservative MP Joël Godin.

"I think you have a better ability to adapt and learn than some CEOs we've met here," he said, referring to the controversial boss of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau.