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Barely a week after the abrupt departure of its CEO, the Montreal Port Authority confirmed its chief financial officer is leaving as well, part of an exodus that raises questions about the direction and governance of the country’s second-largest port — and Ottawa is seeking answers.
In an email Monday, the organization confirmed that Alban Fournier will ship out in less than two weeks to take up a new post in the private sector, after just 17 months on the job.
An interim head of finance has been appointed and “the transition is progressing smoothly,” port authority spokeswoman Renée Larouche said in an email.
The authority announced earlier this month that CEO Julie Gascon had left her role, barely two years into her tenure and with little apparent warning. A news release offered neither explanation nor thanks — a formality typically granted executives, even for exits made under duress.
The CEO’s departure followed that of the port’s chief commercial officer last month. It also came just one week before Prime Minister Mark Carney broke ground on a long-planned expansion at the port, adding to the sense of abruptness.
The House of Commons transport committee took note on Monday, unanimously passing a motion that calls on the three ex-execs to testify.
“What’s happening at the Port of Montreal? I feel it’s in crisis,” Bloc Québécois transport critic Xavier Barsalou-Duval, who put forward the motion, told the committee.
“It’s as if the pilot and his two co-pilots are leaving while the plane is in flight.”
Scrambling to fill the gaps
Alexandra Langelier, executive vice-president at the Institute for the Governance of Private and Public Organizations, agreed that the sudden executive departures have left the organization in “crisis management” as it scrambles to fill the gaps.
“It’s very difficult to recruit somebody that could do this role. It takes time and it takes a succession plan. And for the CEO, we understand that there was no succession plan, because the board stepped in to manage.”
The moves come after a half-decade of lagging shipping container volumes at the facility, which has seen multiple labour strikes since 2020.
However, container volumes last year rose significantly for the first time since 2021, increasing at a rate of 3.6 per cent to outpace global trade growth projections for the year, according to the port authority.
For now, a committee made up of board members will helm the port in collaboration with senior management, the authority said on April 3, when the chief executive stepped down.
Port expansion begins
Board chair Nathalie Pilon said the organization was entering a “new strategic cycle,” pointing to construction begun this month on the container terminal expansion.
The new site at Contrecœur, Que., just downriver from Montreal, is the first so-called nation-building project fast-tracked for approval by the federal government to get off the ground.
Langelier said the board committee should be a “very short-term solution” for the leadership vacuum created by the outbound executives.
“They left and there’s a huge, huge project right now,” she said.
“I have big questions … Is there an issue with the board? Maybe it could be strategic vision. But it could within the organization, it could be the culture. We don’t know.”
The port authority said in an email it has the situation in hand.
“Our governance structure provides for succession mechanisms in situations like this to ensure operational continuity,” Larouche said.
