By Allison Lampert and Simon Jessop
MONTREAL/LONDON (Reuters) – Canada’s second-largest pension fund is considering withholding support from certain Canadian National Railway Co directors at an upcoming annual meeting over French-speaking representation on the company’s board, a source familiar with the matter said.
Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is weighing the protest vote, after denouncing an earlier move in April by Canada’s biggest railroad operator that would have left its board without any local, native French-speaking directors.
Montreal-based Caisse, which is CN’s tenth biggest shareholder, declined to disclose its voting intentions ahead of the railway’s May 20 annual general meeting.
CN declined comment. The source declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.
In late April, after concerns were raised over language, CN’s board said it would appoint a francophone and Quebec-based director “in the coming months,” to replace former provincial premier Jean Charest, who is bilingual.
Caisse had also privately mentioned board representation to shareholder TCI Fund Management Ltd which owns just over 5% of CN shares according to Eikon Refinitiv data. TCI declined comment.
(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Denny Thomas and Nick Zieminski)
