MONTREAL _ Via Rail has named a new chief executive officer little more than a week after a senior federal cabinet minister called for new leadership at the Crown corporation.
Yves Desjardins-Siciliano is taking over from Steve Del Bosco, who had been doing the job on an interim basis since the start of this year.
Desjardins-Siciliano had been serving as Via's chief corporate and legal officer and corporate secretary since 2010.
A statement from Via says he has held executive positions in a variety of industries in Toronto and Montreal.
The appointment comes after Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird publicly demanded Del Bosco's head.
Baird said he lost confidence in Del Bosco because of how Via has been communicating with the public over issues like technical problems with safety equipment at rail crossings.
Baird, whose riding is in the national capital region, said the last straw came last month when Via wrongly accused Ottawa transit buses of causing a signal malfunction at a crossing near his home.