CN’s Luc Jobin to steer railroad so Mongeau can focus on health

Canadian National's Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer, will soon undergo surgery to remove a rare type of precancerous soft-tissue tumour located in the upper left part of his larynx.

While Mongeau intends to remain engaged with CN’s business as president and CEO, Luc Jobin, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, will coordinate the CN leadership team and take direction from the company’s board of directors until Mongeau can ‎return to work later this fall.

His medical treatment plan will call for a surgery towards the end of August or early in September, an expected month or so to heal properly, followed by around six weeks of targeted radiation therapy to completely cure the illness so the tumour does not recur in the future.

“‎This is a serious health setback for me personally, but one of CN’s core strengths is that we have a very experienced and tightly-knit senior team that knows how to lead our railway to success,” Mongeau said. “For this reason, I have all the confidence in the world that CN will not miss a beat while I take good care of myself to recover fully.”

On behalf of CN’s board of directors, Robert Pace, chairman, said “We are sorry to see Claude facing this unfortunate health setback. Having witnessed first-hand his extraordinary level of energy and determination over the years, we all remain confident that he and his medical team will be able to address the situation‎ so he can soon fully be back at the helm guiding CN forward. Our committed directors and myself will be there to support the CN leadership team during Claude’s recovery period.”