The Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG) recently
released its much anticipated policy paper on "proxy access", a
term which refers to shareholders' conceptual right to
nominate directors and have those nominees placed on
management's ballot. The CCGG takes the position that this
right, which is supplemental to a shareholders right to elect
directors, "is an essential component of shareholder
democracy". In a previous post, Kaitlind de Jong reported on
the efforts the CCGG has undertaken to promote enhanced proxy
access for shareholders in Canadian public companies prior to
the release of its policy.
Current best practices in Canada suggest that nominees should be
chosen by an independent nominating committee of the board.
Canadian corporate statutes also provide a platform to proxy access
by giving a five percent shareholder of a company the ability to
requisition a special shareholder meeting to elect directors or
submit a shareholder proposal.
