TELLIER STEPPING DOWN FROM CANADIAN NATIONAL HELM
Canadian National said Friday Paul M. Tellier, the Montreal-based railroad's president and chief executive officer for the past decade, is stepping down to become president and CEO of Bombardier Inc.
E. Hunter Harrison will take over as president and CEO of CN, effective Jan. 1.
Harrison, a 38-year veteran of the railroad industry, joined Illinois Central in 1989 as vice president and chief operating officer, and was named senior vice president-transportation in 1991, and senior vice president-operations in July 1992. CN acquired IC in 1999.
CN chairman David G.A. McLean credited Harrison with designing and implementing CN's schedule railroad practices.
'We were ready for Paul's decision to leave CN,' McLean said. He credited Tellier with 'turning what was once a bloated, money-losing Crown corporation into a nimble, customer-focused and profitable shareholder-owned enterprise. He always considered himself an agent of change, continually challenging conventional wisdom and demanding excellence.'
CN's shareholder value increased nearly 400 percent since CN's privatization in November 1995, McLean noted.