SASKATOON, Sept. 25, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive
officer of CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI), said today CN's capacity to
invest in continued improvements in rail transportation to support
Saskatchewan's thriving economy
requires a sound, commercially-driven regulatory regime.
Mongeau, speaking to the Greater
Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, said Saskatchewan's economy is booming – the
province's real gross domestic product is expected to grow much
faster than Canada's this year,
powered by strong grain and fertilizer production, a growing energy
franchise and a solid manufacturing base.
CN has responded to this growth – CN traffic originating in
Saskatchewan is up 65 per cent
since 2009 – by investing ahead of the curve in capacity
improvements, including more than C$100-million spent on extended sidings,
double-track and yards along its Edmonton-Saskatoon-Winnipeg corridor. CN is also hiring
aggressively -- today its employee base in Saskatchewan is 40 per cent higher than it was
five years ago.
Mongeau said CN's investments have helped it efficiently haul
more freight, including Saskatchewan's large share of the
unprecedented 2013-2014 grain crop in Western Canada.
"CN posted a record performance in the 2013-2014 crop year – our
movement of Western Canadian grain was a full 25 per cent greater
than past average performance," he said. "Today, as a result of
hard work and normal commercial incentives, the grain supply chain
is back in synch and we are ready to handle the new crop
efficiently."
"We firmly believe the federal government should pursue sound
policies that foster a balanced regulatory regime for railways and
encourage commercial innovation, supply chain collaboration and
continued investment. In the end, such tried and tested market
pillars are critical to a rail industry that builds the resources
and infrastructure required to support Saskatchewan's fast-growing economy."
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting approximately
C$250 billion worth of goods annually
for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource
products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail
network spanning Canada and
mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the
Gulf of Mexico. CN – Canadian
National Railway Company, along with its operating railway
subsidiaries -- serves the ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of
Toronto, 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 is
"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, including statements relating to the
growth of the frac sand market, 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 risk factors that could affect the 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 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 matters, or any
other forward-looking statement.
SOURCE CN