The Pig That Flew: The Battle to Privatize Canadian National

A.A. den Otter is a professor of history at Memorial University of
Newfoundland and the author of The Philosophy of Railways.

On February 27, 1995, Paul Martin, Canada’s minister of finance,
announced in his budget speech that the government intended to privatize
Canadian National. Restructured out of several bankrupt Canadian
railways and nationalized at the end of World War I, CN had struggled
ever since to remain viable. This huge conglomerate, with its antiquated
and inefficient management culture, was on the verge of collapse by the
fall of 1992, when the government named Paul Tellier, former clerk of
the Privy Council, as the company’s president and chief executive
officer. His mandate was to restore the failing Crown corporation.

Three years later, on November 17, 1995, the New York stock exchange
listed CN for the first time. In the interim, the company had undergone
what was undoubtedly the most radical and far-reaching transformation in
Canadian business history. Working within a relaxed regulatory
environment, CN’s senior officers and directors executed a
plan—which included massive layoffs and renegotiated labor contracts,
modernized management and equipment, and a thorough financial
restructuring—to create a lean and efficient corporation that would be
attractive to domestic and foreign investors.

The Pig That Flew is a fascinating and thoroughly researched account of
the events that led up to the privatization of CN. By focusing on the
key players, and by writing in a somewhat breathless style, Bruce adds a
dramatic element to the story. Not all readers will share his open
admiration for the actors in the CN drama, or his unquestioning
acceptance of the consequences of their actions.