BCE FIGHTS BOARD QUOTA
Call for more female directors
BCE Inc. is calling for shareholders to reject a resolution that would impose a strict quota on the proportion of women who sit on its board.
In its proxy circular, the company is urging owners to vote against a proposal that would force the Montreal- based telecom giant to boost female representation from the 15 per cent of directors it maintains today to a minimum of 40 per cent by 2020.
Although regulators have in recent years urged corporate Canada to bridge the gender gap in boardroom, BCE’s 13- person board reiterated its pledge that females will occupy at least one- quarter of independent directorships by the end of 2017, contending that this is both “appropriate for promoting diversity and the attraction of the most highly qualified directors available.” The resolution will come to a vote at the annual meeting on April 30.
The proposal is one of three put forth by a group of shareholders called the Mouvement d’éducation et de défense des actionnaires ( Médac), a Montreal- based shareholder- activist group. Inspired by the strides made in Europe as a result of legislated diversity quotas in countries such as Norway, Finland and France, Médac president Daniel Thouin is demanding that BCE aim higher than just its target.
When Thouin made his quota request to BCE, he said he was told the company doesn’t “have a legal obligation to add more women.” Two of BCE’s 13 board members are female: Sophie Brochu, of Quebec’s energy sector, and Carole Taylor, B. C.’ s former minister of finance. Ultimately, BCE and the activists are two seats apart: BCE’s target requires it to add one more female director, whereas Médac demands it add a minimum of three.
BCE spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis declined to comment on the company’s response to the shareholder proposal.
This isn’t the first time Médac has filed a resolution about gender equality with BCE, but it’s the first time it has pressed a strict 40 per cent quota. “They wanted us to remove the proposal,” Thouin added. “We refused because their target was too low for us. It’s just three places. It’s so low.”
While Médac is pressing for change at BCE, the company is hardly unusual in its gender mix.
Today, 17.1 per cent of directors at FP500 businesses are women. The gender balance is so off, and changing so slowly, that Canadian boards will not achieve gender parity until 2083, the Canadian Board Diversity Council estimated in its latest annual report. Advances across the pond only make the gap in Canada more obvious, said Andrew Crane, director of the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business at York University’s Schulich School of Business.
He noted that if BCE met its own 25 per cent target, it would actually be one of the few companies in the country to achieve that high a proportion of women on its board.
Meanwhile, in its own circular, rival Rogers Communications Inc. says it “does not have a formal gender diversity policy or a target representation of women on the board at this time.” But if nominee Bonnie Brooks is successfully appointed to its 15- person board, Rogers would have five female directors, or 33 per cent, though three of the women are members of the Rogers family.
Three of the 15 people on the Telus Corp. board are women. The company has signed the Catalyst Accord, pledging to narrow the gap to a minimum of 25 per cent women by 2017.