The national railway company, Canadian National (CN), announces on Thursday that it has registered with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) in accordance with the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French, known as Loi 96.
The President and CEO of Canadian National, Tracy Robinson, explains that this decision is in line with the history of the company whose head office has been established in Montreal for more than a century.
Ms. Robinson noted that French is the official and common language of Quebec and that CN is proud to do its part to promote and protect it.
The railway company says that following the entry into force of the law last year, it entered into discussions with the OQLF in order to proceed with its voluntary registration. However, CN is subject to a particular context, being subject to the Official Languages Act of Canada, by virtue of its constituting statute.
The carrier specifies that its discussions with the OQLF over the past few months were aimed at finding a way to reconcile the obligations arising from federal law with CN’s desire to voluntarily register with the OQLF.
In a press release, the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, welcomes the gesture made by the CN to subscribe to the francization process, like, he recalls, the vast majority of businesses under federal jurisdiction with more than 50 employees.
The Minister believes that the adhesion of a large federally chartered company is very important for Quebec and the French fact and he hopes that it will encourage the few remaining companies to comply.
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