Bombardier’s biggest outside shareholder has pulled its support for chairman Pierre Beaudoin, the last executive link to the manufacturer’s founding family, after he backed a compensation plan that sparked a public furor.

The manufacturer’s board should be led “by a fully independent director,” Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada’s second-largest pension-fund manager, said in a letter to Bombardier on Monday. Beaudoin is a member of the family that controls the Montreal-based maker of planes and trains.

The Caisse said it also voted against the executive-compensation plan, which fuelled outrage and sparked protests after Bombardier increased pay almost 50 per cent despite receiving taxpayer aid and announcing plans to cut more than 14,000 jobs. Bombardier later reduced Beaudoin’s pay and delayed some remuneration for leaders, including chief executive officer Alain Bellemare.

“The board’s recent decisions regarding executive compensation fall short of the necessary standard of stewardship,” Caisse executive vice-president Kim Thomassin said in the letter. “Given this lapse of governance, we have voted against the advisory resolution on compensation.”

While Beaudoin’s family holds a controlling stake that makes the pay plan likely to pass anyway, the letter put the company back in the spotlight weeks after the public outcry that forced Bombardier to downsize the pay package. The Caisse had a 2.5 per cent stake in Bombardier’s widely traded Class B shares as of Dec. 31.

Bombardier’s board said in a statement Monday that Thursday’s annual meeting will be “an opportunity to discuss these important questions.”

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While expressing “full support and confidence’’ in Bellemare and his team as they attempt to turn the company around, the Caisse said better governance is required to make the plan successful.

The Caisse, which has previously voted against executive compensation hikes at Barrick Gold, joins others that have expressed opposition in recent days to the way Bombardier is run.

The British Columbia Investment Management Corp., an institutional investor group, said it also plans to vote its nearly seven million shares against Bombardier’s compensation policy and will oppose non-independent directors.

Quebec last year invested $1 billion (U.S.) in Bombardier’s C Series jetliner program, which entered service more than two years late and billions of dollars over budget.

Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to provide $372.5 million (Canadian) in support for the C Series and the Global 7000 business jet program after more than a year of discussions. The federal assistance gave Bombardier an additional cushion, while falling far short of the $1 billion in aid the company had initially sought.

Winning more orders for the C Series, Bombardier’s marquee jetliner, is a crucial part of Bellemare’s turnaround plans. Under his watch, the company landed a critical lifeline for the C Series with a $5.6 billion (U.S.) order from Delta Air Lines Inc. last year. The airline’s CEO, Ed Bastian, cited Quebec’s support as a key reason behind his decision to buy at least 75 of the jets. Bombardier also won a major order from Air Canada.

Meanwhile, Bombardier has struggled to fulfil a $1-billion streetcar order placed by the TTC. Toronto was supposed to have 121 new streetcars by now, but has received only 35.

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Last month, after facing weeks of criticism, Bombardier announced that its board of directors approved changes to the compensation offered to several top executives. Bellemare had asked the board to delay payment of more than half of last year’s total planned compensation for six executive officers, including himself, by one year to 2020, provided the company meets certain objectives.

Executive chairman Pierre Beaudoin also asked the board to cut his 2016 compensation by $1.4 million (U.S.) to equal the $3.85 million he received in 2015. In a regulatory filing ahead of the company’s May 11 annual meeting, the Montreal-based company had said the proposals were accepted and approved by the board. Had the changes not been approved, the executive compensation for 2016 would’ve been nearly 50 per cent more than what it would’ve been the previous year.

With files from The Canadian Press and Star staff

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