STATEMENT OF GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
Board of Directors
Composition of the Board – Independence
The Board is currently comprised of eleven directors and, following the Meeting, will be comprised of nine directors. The Board has considered the independence of each of its directors. Consistent with National Instrument 58-101 – Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (“NI 58-101”) and the corporate governance standards of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), to be considered independent, the Board must conclude that a director has no material relationship with the Corporation. A “material relationship” is generally a relationship which could, in the view of the Board, reasonably interfere with the exercise of a director’s independent judgment and includes an indirect material relationship.
The Board has concluded that nine of eleven directors (Dr. Farrow, Ms. Jensen, Ms. Maki and Messrs. Albanese, Evans, Gignac, Oliphant, Perron and Pew) are “independent” for purposes of Board membership, as provided in NI 58-101 and by NYSE corporate governance standards. The Board has also concluded that, following the Meeting, seven of nine directors (Dr. Farrow, Ms. Jensen, Ms. Maki and Messrs. Albanese, Evans, Oliphant and Perron) will be “independent” for purposes of Board membership, as provided in NI 58-101 and by NYSE corporate governance standards. Therefore, all of the directors were and are “independent” other than Messrs. Harquail and Brink, by virtue of their positions as former CEO and President & CEO, respectively.
The Board has also considered the independence of its directors more generally and whether they are “related” or “affiliated” as defined by various governance ratings agencies and confirms its view that Dr. Farrow, Ms. Jensen, Ms. Maki and Messrs. Albanese, Evans, Gignac, Oliphant, Perron and Pew are not “related” or “affiliated” with the Corporation in such a way as to affect their exercise of independent judgment.
Shareholders and other interested parties may communicate with any member of the Board, including the Chair of the Board, and the independent directors as a group, by contacting the Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary at 199 Bay Street, Suite 2000, P.O. Box 285, Commerce Court Postal Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5L 1G9.
Independent Director Meetings
At 100% of the meetings of the Board and its committees held during fiscal 2022 (including those that were not regularly scheduled meetings), the independent directors held an in-camera session at which non-independent directors and members of management were not present. It is the intention of the directors to continue to hold an in-camera session at each Board and Committee meeting.