Canadian National Railway (CN) has entered into a resolution agreement with CIFF Capital and TCI (collectively known as TCI), and has named its new president and CEO.
Tracy Robinson will serve as president, 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 leave the board on the same day, but remain on in an advisory role until March 31, 2022.
CN also announced several changes to its board including committing to appoint two new independent directors to the board. The appointments of the two future independent directors to the board have been mutually agreed upon by CN and TCI in the resolution agreement. As part of that resolution agreement, TCI has agreed to withdraw its requisition for a special meeting of shareholders, which was previously scheduled to be held on March 22, 2022, and to support the election of all CN director nominees at the 2022 and 2023 AGMs.
Robert Pace, chair of the board of directors for CN says they have appreciated the input they have received from their shareholders throughout the process, and are excited about what CN can achieve in the future.
“We are pleased to have appointed a world-class CEO to lead CN during our next phase of growth and announced that we are continuing to add more highly qualified independent directors to our board,” he says.
Robinson spent nearly 30 years at Canadian Pacific Railway, and worked most recently with TC Energy. She brings operational management, strategy development, and project execution experience to CN, the company says.
Jo-ann dePass Olsovsky has been appointed to serve as one of the two new board of directors of CN, effective immediately. She is currently the executive vice president and chief information officer of Salesforce. dePass Olsovsky spent almost 12 years at BNSF Railway where she served as senior vice president and chief information officer leading enterprise information technology.
In the event that either of the two new independent directors are unable to serve on the board, CN and TCI have agreed to identify up to two alternate independent directors with North American railroad experience prior to the 2022 AGM.
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