CN a true backbone of the economy, positioned to help advance
Canada's trade ambitions, says President and CEO Claude Mongeau
VANCOUVER,
Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -
Claude Mongeau, president and chief
executive officer of CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI), said today CN is a
true backbone of the Canadian economy and can play a major role in
helping to advance the nation's trade ambitions.
Mongeau told the Vancouver Board of Trade's Pacific Gateway
Forum 2012 that the economic significance of CN and its innovative
business agenda support Canada's
export potential.
"Vancouver is a
major gateway for CN's export-based traffic. Roughly C$85 billion worth of goods move to global
markets annually over CN's network, with about 30 per cent of CN's
carloads being tied to exports to the U.S. and offshore markets.
This means we're a major player in Canada's trade and prosperity, and that global
trade is very important to our business as well."
Mongeau said CN's bold agenda of supply chain
collaboration, its commitment to operational and service
excellence, and focus on seamless end-to-end transportation
solutions support growth of gateways such as Vancouver and help make CN customers more
competitive in their end markets, at home and abroad.
That agenda is built on CN and supply chain
stakeholders coming together to make changes that are driven by
commercial forces, he said. Marked improvements have been seen
across a number of CN business segments, including grain, which is
currently running at record levels, and intermodal, which has grown
by more than 65 per cent on the West Coast since 2009.
"We've got a good thing going here," Mongeau said.
"We have world-class rail service and the lowest freight rates
among OECD countries. We strongly encourage the Canadian government
to stay the course with a commercial approach to rail service.
Additional regulation could stifle innovation and chill the
positive momentum we've developed.
"But if the government decides to legislate
railway-customer service agreements, the new rules should be
balanced and targeted.
"CN believes such legislation should absolutely
require mediation as a first step to give commercial solutions a
better chance to prevail. The rules should also require the
Canadian Transportation Agency itself - not a roster of arbitrators
- to arbitrate any service dispute, so as to limit the possibility
of unintended consequences damaging Canada's rail network. And arbitration should
only be available to rail customers who depend on a single
railroad, in line with the shippers' call that regulation act as a
'backstop' to address cases where they claim railway market power
is an issue."
To view Mongeau's slide presentation, click
here.
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its
operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans to the Gulf of
Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas
of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis.,
Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points
in North America. For more
information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news release constitutes
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws.
CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements
involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company
cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current
economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at
the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which may cause the actual results or performance of the
Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the
outlook or any future results or performance implied by such
statements. Important factors that could affect the above
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the
effects of general economic and business conditions, industry
competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations,
changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments,
compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by
regulators, various events which could disrupt operations,
including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods
and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental
claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types
of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from
derailments, and other risks and assumptions detailed from time to
time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in
Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to
"Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim
reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian
and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a
summary of major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise
forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in
circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable
Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any
forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will
make additional updates with respect to that statement, related
maters, or any other forward-looking statement.
SOURCE CN