CN CEO Mongeau to step down following 2015 surgery

Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of Canadian National Railway, will be succeeded in his role by current Chief Financial Officer Luc Jobin after having surgery to remove a tumor from his throat in 2015.    Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of Canadian National Railway Co., will step down at the end of June after having surgery to remove a tumor from his throat in 2015, according to a statement from the company.
   The CN board of directors has appointed current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Luc Jobin to replace Mongeau in the CEO role.
   A 22-year veteran of CN, Mongeau has served as the company’s chief executive for the last six and a half years, taking the reins from now CP CEO E. Hunter Harrison in 2010, and prior to that was its chief financial officer for 11 years. He is credited as being one of the key architects of CN’s transformation over the years, from the company’s initial public offering in 1995 to its expansion to the largest railroad in Canada.
   In the fall of 2015, Mongeau underwent a procedure to replace his larynx after doctors found a rare type of precancerous soft-tissue tumor.
   Jobin, who joined CN in 2009 following senior executive stints at Imasco, Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Power Corporation, coordinated the CN Leadership Team during Mongeau’s medical leave last year.
   “I was filled with joy returning at the helm earlier this year, but I gradually came to realize that it is difficult to fulfill such a demanding ‎role given my new condition as a laryngectomee,” Mongeau said of the announcement. “I sincerely thank the key members of my Leadership Team and my fellow CN Directors for their understanding and support in the circumstances.”
   “Facing up to a situation like this inevitably stirs a lot of emotions‎, but I step down from my role with a deep sense of pride and the firm conviction that CN remains in good hands and has a bright future,” he added.
   CN Board Chairman Robert Pace said that Mongeau would remain available to advise the company during the transition period.