“We are deeply saddened by the passing of David McLean, a visionary leader whose contributions to CN and Canada’s business landscape leave a lasting legacy,” CN reported Feb. 4, noting that “his leadership and dedication helped shape CN into the company it is today. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Brenda, and the entire McLean family during this difficult time. His legacy will always be remembered.”
McLean served as a director of CN from 1979 to 1986, returning as Chair of the Board from 1994 to 2014. He was instrumental in CN’s IPO. The government of Canada on Nov. 17, 1995, put CN shares up for sale to investors; at C$2.25 billion, it was the biggest IPO in Canadian history. At the time, CN was the largest and oldest Crown Corporation in Canada. The railroad has since acquired the Illinois Central Railroad, the Wisconsin Central Railroad, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, and BC Rail. This month, the Surface Transportation Board approved its acquisition of the Iowa Northern.
JJ Ruest, who served as CN President and CEO from 2018 until retiring in early 2022 and was Railway Age’s 2019 Railroader of the Year, said on the 25th anniversary of privatization that the move was “anticipated with widespread skepticism, but executed with startling success” and “allowed CN to unleash the powerful creative and competitive forces of our railroaders.” Among those railroaders who worked at CN during McClean’s tenure as Board Chair were the late Hunter Harrison (Railroader of the Year 2002 and 2015) Keith Creel (now President and CEO, CPKC, and Railroader of the Year 2021, and 2022 with Kansas City Southern’s the late Pat Ottensmeyer), and John Orr (now Executive Vice President and COO, Norfolk Southern).
Born in Edmonton, McLean graduated from University of Alberta law school. He founded McLean Group in 1972 as a real estate developer and oversaw numerous residential and commercial real estate projects in Vancouver and throughout North America, including a 35-acre land assembly in East Vancouver that is home to McLean Group’s Vancouver Film Studios, Pacific Backlot Services and Signal Systems. Under his leadership, McLean Group expanded to include companies in not only film and television, but also telecommunications and helicopter aviation. The McLean McCuaig Foundation has made many significant contributions to education and healthcare institutions in British Columbia, Alberta, and other parts of Canada.
During his career, McLean chaired or served on several other corporate boards including Concord Pacific Group Inc., Coastland Wood Industries Inc., Westech Information Systems Inc., DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada, and Nu West Development Corporation. His roles also included chairing the Vancouver Board of Trade, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the UBC Board of Governors, the Board of the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation, the Capital Campaign of the University of Alberta, the Canadian Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Canadian Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Charter for Business.
Greystone Books in 2014 published A Road Taken, a 296-page book that McLean wrote with Patricia Flinn covering his service on the CN Board, as well as his law and business career.
