CN has appointed Tracy Robinson as president and CEO 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.
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.
“This is a transformational period at CN, and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead," says Robinson,.
"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.”
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.
