I am very pleased to announce that the shortlist for the Excellence in Governance Awards has been finalized. We received a total of 76 nominations from just under 40 companies in the categories listed below:

1. Best sustainability, ethics and environmental governance program
2. Best use of technology in governance, risk and compliance
3. Best approach to board and committee support
4. Best shareholder engagement by a governance team
5. Best practices in managing boardroom diversity
6. Best overall corporate governance

To see the companies who have been shortlisted in each of these categories CLICK HERE.

The Excellence in Governance Awards will be presented at the opening dinner of the 15th CSCS annual conference on August 18th in Halifax, NS.

CSCS would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA) to the short listing judging for the Excellence in Governance Awards. We want to thank in particular the following three individuals who volunteered a considerable amount of time and effort in reviewing close to 80 submissions for the Excellence in Governance Awards, to generate the shortlist of finalists for the Awards judges. Cathy Cummings MBA, CAE,  Executive Director, Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA); Grant K.D. Borbridge QC, Executive Vice President, Investments and Chief Counsel, Emergo Group of Companies; Terri Uhrich, Vice President, Legal Affairs at K+S Potash Canada.

The Excellence in Governance Awards will be presented at the opening dinner of the 15th CSCS annual conference on August 18th in Halifax, NS. The Excellence in Governance Awards jury panel is composed of seasoned and well-respected governance experts from across Canada and include: Gigi Dawe, CICA; Stephen Griggs, Smoothwater Capital Corporation; Carol Hansell, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP; Sylvia Groves, Governance Studio; Dr Richard Leblanc, York University; Andrew MacDougall, Spencer Stuart; Paul Schneider, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan; Elizabeth Watson, Watson Inc; Brendan Sheehan, The Illawong Group.

CSCS is committed to support and enhance the role of the corporate secretary and governance professionals in Canada. The Society's members work on the front lines of governance and the organization is well positioned through reputation, influence and representation, to celebrate the practice of good governance in Canada. We are very pleased with the excellent show of support for this inaugural program and look forward to announcing the finalists in August.

For more information about the awards, visit http://www.cscs.org/EGA and for more information about the CSCS annual conference and program, visit: http://www.cscs.org/AnnualConference.

I hope that you will join us in Halifax for this exciting event and for our conference!

Sincerely, 

Lynn Beauregard
President 

Do you have a question you need an answer to? Looking for best practices? Our Request for Assistance service is an easy way to receive information from your peers. Below are some recent requests. Your responses will be appreciated.

Honorary Chair role

I work for a large non-profit organization who recently appointed an "Honorary Chair". Other than a title, we don't have an actual job description for this role. I'm looking to you to see whether you have, and could share, a position description if your organization has something similar to this role. I'd like to engage this person in a specific way but without a position profile, it's difficult to do.

Health, Safety and Environmental Committee of the Board

We are a mid-size, TSX listed company contemplating either the creation of a board HSE Committee or specifically changing the mandate of an existing committee to specifically confer responsibility for HSE oversight. Any information regarding pros, cons, best practices, etc., would be helpful.

Banking resolutions and signing authority resolutions

We are currently reviewing our banking resolution and our signing authority resolution.
It would be greatly appreciated if members would share their precedents and provide any comments or suggestions in respect to the drafting of these resolutions.

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Clients often ask me what's the ROI on corporate governance; i.e., how does good corporate governance affect "the bottom line"? Good corporate governance can improve operational performance. It's not just a compliance system, it's the philosophy of governing the organization through proactive management from the top down. Good corporate governance transcends basic governance practices (legal and regulatory compliance, ongoing financial scrutiny, and fulfilling accountability requirements). Proactive boards plan for the future, evolve to keep pace with changes in the external environment, cultivate and create key external relationships, and recognize opportunities to grow the business.

Want to get started on proactive corporate governance? Here are two practices I recommend.