Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest pocketed a salary of just under $70,000 during his brief stint as a director of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN).
Mr. Charest was appointed director at the start of 2022, but resigned two months later to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, without success. In total, he earned $68,987 in compensation during his time at CN, according to regulatory filings released by the company.
French at CN
The rail carrier also disclosed the language skills of its director candidates. Three of the eleven candidates are fluent in French.
Last year, CN, whose head office is in Montreal, was criticized for having no French-speaking administrators after the departure of Mr. Charest.
Having taken office last October, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Innergex, Michel Letellier, is the only director whose mother tongue is French. Directors Susan Jones and Justin Howel are bilingual.
President and CEO Tracy Robinson, who pledged to learn French when she took office in February 2022, did not include Molière’s language proficiency in her skillset. Ms. Robinson earned total compensation of $13.7 million in 2022.
Earlier in March, CN announced its registration with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) under Bill 96, which came into effect last year. The carrier had specified 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.