Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Robinson, thank you for being with us today. We apologize for our late start.
I want to congratulate you on your efforts to learn French. You are clearly more capable of adapting and learning than some CEOs we have met here.
Ms. Robinson, I understand you've been in your position for only a few months. So we can understand why you haven't necessarily established your philosophy throughout the business. However, I'd like to remind you that, in November 1962, 60 years ago this year, a federal parliamentary committee on railways asked Donald Gordon, then president of Canadian National, to explain why there were no francophones among the Crown corporation's 17 vice-presidents.
Sixty years later, why do you think CN is back at square one? Actually, why do you think the company is making the same mistake? The official languages are of course English and French. Why do you think we're seeing a repeat of that same situation?
Admittedly, we're probably more sensitive to the cause of French as a result of current events because we're studying the official languages modernization bill.
I'd like to hear what you have to say about CN past and present.