Profiles in change, citizen rights

Retiree right to information

There are a few questions retirees and the NBPSPP should be asking about the Board's narrative.

General questions

1. How relevant is the information to the current and future needs of the retirees? 
2. has management (in this case Vestcorp) assessed the scope of the information available for decision making?
3. Who owns our data? Is the use of our data subject to internal audit to insure that it is being properly used?
4. Does the data used by management and reported to the board present a coherent picture of the businesses and the markets in which the Plan invests?

Annual meeting questions

1. Is the annual meeting preceded by a retiree relations roadshow? Are the needs of certain groups of retirees being addressed consistent with the current composition of the board?
2. How is attendance at the annual meeting encouraged? 
3. Are retirees given an opportunity to ask questions? In this case, they are. 
4. Are there votes on pay, on nominations, on the choice of Auditor? 
5. Is there proxy voting and will this optimize retiree participation in the annual meeting...and at other events?
6. 6 Is there timely and detailed information? Yes and no. Yes, the information is timely. NBPSPP makes an effort to send out both by snail mail and e-mail information about the plan's status with additional information which may be of interest to retirees. The Plan is currently designing a website which, I presume, will facilitate outreach. However, it remains to be seen if it facilitates in-reach and dialogue between the Board and the retirees. 
7. Do the retirees also receive reports from the Nominating, Compensation and Audit Committees. In the latter, only at the annual meeting. There are some real communication opportunities missed by a) not having these committees and not encouraging a conversation about: performance evaluation and recruitment activity, continuous earning activities (some of which might be of interest to retirees and to those of us who might be interested in applying to the Board), say on pay.

Investment strategies

Being an institutional investor comes with it a degree of power and considerable responsibility. How ethical are the companies in whom we invest?

1. Do these have an HSE focus with attention to : employee welfare, accident rates, volumes of waste, pollution emissions, spills? What are the actions of the companies to reduce incidents, if these are an issue?
2. Is there CSR reporting on : social matters, ethical labour practices, training and education not only of workers but also of the markets in which they operate,  workforce diversity and/or philanthropic initiatives(one question: is there pay equity? What proportion of leadership positions are held by women?)
3. How sustainable are the companies in which we invest?

In short, do the companies have a triple bottom line of financial performance, impacts on the environment and natural resources, social benefits and costs. 

In effect, as an Institutional Investor, NBPSPP has an opportunity to encourage business to profit by focussing on community, environment, marketplace and workplace.

Sustainability reporting

How sustainable are the companies in which we invest as a plan? 

Sustainability at be defined as the ability of the company to achieve sustainable development and continue to operate without wasting or losing natural resources, (skilled) people or (developing)markets. 

Several topics have been identified for follow up: say on pay, ethical investing, director performance evaluation. 

Building an open data portal

In the last post, the City of saint john's open data portal was revealed with a link. A number of issues were identified including the fact that the data used to populate the site had little or nothing to do with the issues confronting the city, nor did the data help boost the opportunities of this unique Canadian city. 
A few efforts were made last year to present to our citizens the concept of open data and how it might be used. But those 4 early year opportunities had no follow up. 

So, how might the city's councillors correct this besides encouraging the creation of an open data publication?

1. an oversight team ought to be created composed of people across the spectrum of stakeholders including: IT, legal expertise, ethics and CSR specialists, reps from the Board of Trade, reps from UNB and NBCC, elected reps and, reps from the City. Who will be the prosumers?
2. Using targeted working groups, map open data sources to city objectives.

•  How does the portal meet the city's key aims and objectives?
• What would be the benefit of publishing a source of open data?
• What benefit could it bring a user?
• What would be the benefit to the city?

      3. Are these sources of data for which there would be strong demand?

    4. What would be the source of the demand? Would these be CSV files or an API? Will the city operate a blog. Who is the contact person if a user has a question about the data?

     5. What risks might be involved?

     6. When and how will the data and its use be evaluated and modified?

What are the strategic objectives of the city? What data does a smart city need to thrive?