MONTREAL - The Montreal Port Authority is naming an executive who left exactly two months ago as its new CEO, as questions over leadership turnover continue to trouble the waters of the organization amid a major expansion.
The authority says Paul Bird will step into the top spot on June 8, giving him a few weeks to leave his newly minted managerial role at Alto, the Crown corporation in charge of Canada's high-speed rail project.
The appointment comes less than three weeks after the chief financial officer departed and 10 weeks after former chief executive Julie Gascon set sail.
Announced without explanation by the port authority barely two years into her tenure on the day of her departure, Gascon's exit raised leadership questions that prompted the House of Commons transport committee to call on the three former executives to testify — including Bird.
Board chairwoman Nathalie Pilon says Bird is "fully committed" to the port's container terminal expansion at Contrecoeur, Que., the first of the federal government's fast-tracked projects to get off the ground.
The C-suite changes come after a half-decade of lagging shipping container volumes at the facility, which has seen multiple labour strikes since 2020.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2026.
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