VANCOUVER, May 14, 2015 /CNW/ - Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive
officer of CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI), said today Canada's trade agenda requires a policy
framework that encourages and rewards continued investment in
supply-chain capacity and innovation.
Mongeau, speaking to the Vancouver Board of Trade, said: "The current
review of the Canada Transportation Act affords the federal
government a prime opportunity to affirm the commercial policies of
the past 25 to 30 years that have produced a Canadian rail industry
renowned internationally for efficiency, innovation and freight
rates that are among the lowest in the world, based on a market
framework and commercial principles.
"Canada enjoys the benefits of
a world-class rail industry entirely owned by the private sector.
CN, from its own resources, has invested close to C$10 billion in rail infrastructure, capacity
additions and operational and service excellence initiatives across
its North American network over the past five years – with
C$1 billion of that being invested
alone in British Columbia, which
sees a full one-third of all CN traffic.
"B.C. is a key gateway for Canada's global trade, and we're proud that
CN's strong focus on innovation and supply chain collaboration has
contributed strongly to the economy of British Columbia. For example, over the past
five years international container volumes moving over the ports of
Vancouver and Prince Rupert combined more than doubled."
Mongeau concluded: "Railways are crucial to the prosperity of
the Canadian economy and the nation's competitiveness in global
markets. We need the right business agenda, supported by the right
policy framework, to encourage railways to continue building for
the future. In a market economy like Canada's, only a balanced commercial approach
can help sustain the solid rail industry foundation built over the
past 25 years."
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than
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. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its
operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of
Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New
Orleans, and Mobile, Ala.,
and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., 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.
SOURCE CN