The abrupt resignation of VIA Rail’s chief executive is a “privacy matter,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra yesterday told the House of Commons transport committee..The $318,000-a year CEO quit May 20 with two years remaining on her contract..“Why did the CEO quit?” asked New Democrat MP Taylor Bachrach (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.). “I don’t think you want this committee to do a performance review on individual employees or talk about someone’s decision to quit,” replied Alghabra. “It is a privacy matter.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, the transport minister’s office earlier declined to release the text of the CEO’s resignation letter. The VIA Rail board of directors also failed to explain why Garneau quit..The CEO’s resignation came 10 days after VIA reported major financial losses on its operations. Alghabra yesterday told the transport committee cabinet did not consider “a privatization of VIA.”.No MP asked if cabinet had considered selling the railway..Parliament created VIA in 1978 after transferring passenger service from Canadian National Railways, which was then a Crown corporation. Canadian National itself was privatized amid federal budget cuts in 1995..The Crown railway lost $370.5 million in 2021 compared to $415.8 million in 2020. The number of full-time employees was also cut from 3308 to 2370, a 28% reduction. Total ridership last year was less than a third of pre-pandemic levels, from a totaled five million passenger trips to 1.5 million..Cynthia Garneau, former president of Bell Helicopter, was appointed CEO on a five-year term in 2019. .“You try to find the best person to fill the position, someone who has the experience and qualifications to be at the helm of a large company with tremendous responsibilities,” then-Transport Minister Marc Garneau testified at 2019 hearings of the transport committee..“I am particularly proud to see Cynthia Garneau officially taking charge of VIA Rail,” he said. “I am sure there’s a bright future.”.The railway said in a February 9 report it would require ongoing bailouts for years to come. “Without sufficient and timely funding VIA Rail would be obliged to make drastic cuts, which is a significant business and reputational risk exacerbated by layoffs, significant restructuring costs including employment security and severance payments and start-up costs when the service resumes,” wrote management..“It may take until 2024 to return to the level of demand seen in 2019,” said the report. “Under such conditions VIA Rail, while continuing to prudently provide needed transportation services to Canadians as it has done in 2020, would be forced to seek additional funding through 2022, 2023 and 2024.”
