2004 Public Meetings

The 2004 series of public meetings were held in the provincial capitals of each participating province with the exception of British Columbia. A total of 278 Canadians attended the meetings.

The public meetings were scheduled in the evening in the hope of attracting working Canadians. There were at total of 48 more people at the 2004 public meetings than the previous meetings in 2002.

Presentations

The public meetings started with brief remarks by Gail Cook-Bennett, Chairperson, and John MacNaughton, President and CEO. The 20-minuite presentation was followed by questions from the audience. After the formal part of the meeting, CPP Investment Board staff were also available to answer questions from members of the public.

Gail Cook-Bennett outlined the history of the CPP Investment Board, its legislative mandate, the governance structure and the appointment of directors to the Board and the hiring of officers.

John MacNaughton highlighted the CPP Investment Board's disclosure policy, social investing, sustainability of the CPP, the portfolio diversification, long-term growth and its investment performance.

Due to a family medical emergency, Gail Cook-Bennett was unavailable to attend the meetings in Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver. Her speech topics were addressed by John MacNaughton. Ian Dale, Vice President Communications and Stakeholder Relations moderated in the question and answer period at the meetings.

Q&A

The questions were similar across Canada. Members of the public were interested in social investing, proxy voting, sustainability, governance, diversification, regional investing and venture capital. In particular, tobacco investments were of interest to many who attended the meetings.

• There were questions about our investment policies, our strategies and our legislated mandate. Specific interest was in our social investing policy and our commitment to disclosure.
• Many attending the meetings asked how we are able to remain independent from political interference when making decisions.
• There were questions about our asset mix and how we plan to diversify the portfolio.
• Others wanted to know how the CPP Investment Board hires its investment professionals and outside managers.
• Questions about the nomination and selection process of our Board of Directors were posed.

Reaching Canadians

To promote each public meetings we placed three advertisements in the main local daily newspapers, two weeks prior to the meeting. We also ran an advertisement in a French language newspaper in each province two weeks prior to the meetings.

Details of the public meetings were posted on the CPP Investment Board website, and the websites of CARP (Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus), Social Development Canada and Advocis (The Financial Advisors Association of Canada).

To further promote the public meetings, John MacNaughton participated in three radio call-in shows and two radio interviews in the two weeks before the start of the public meetings.

Evaluation of the meetings - Attendee survey

Of the 278 attendees, 140 completed surveys.

• 51 per cent, or 71 respondents learned about the meetings through an advertisement in their local newspaper, while 22 per cent learned by word of mouth and 11 per cent from our website.
• 78 per cent, or 109 respondents, found the presentation and PowerPoint slides to be informative or very informative.
• Preference for meeting time was divided between 30 per cent for evening and 27 per cent for the morning.
• 36 per cent of respondents said they would join a webcast of a future public meeting, while 40 per cent said they would not.
• 89 per cent (or 123 respondents) found the meeting location accessible.