A giant lemon has invited itself in front of the head office of Canadian National (CN) because of the language missteps of the rail carrier, plunged into controversy after closing the doors of its board of directors to French speakers.
Posted at 9:30 p.m.
The lemon was dropped off by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, which works to protect and promote the French language, ahead of the company’s annual meeting on Friday.
“The common and working language in Quebec is French, and its total absence from CN’s highest decision-making sphere shows contempt for Francophones,” said its president, Marie-Anne Alepin.
To try to correct the situation, CN has promised to add a French-speaking director to its board of directors in the coming months. The company reiterated its intentions on Friday.
Unilingual anglophone, the president and CEO of CN, Tracy Robinson, has promised to learn the language of Molière. She reported on her progress by speaking in French twice during her presentation to shareholders.