WESTERN FOREST PRODUCTS INC.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETING OF
SHAREHOLDERS
MAY 6, 2021
INFORMATION CIRCULAR
INSIDE THIS CIRCULAR | |
BUSINESS OF THE MEETING..................................................................................................................... | 6 |
1. Receive the Annual Report and Financial Statements...................................................................................... | 6 |
2. Set the Number of Directors ............................................................................................................................. | 6 |
3. Elect Directors .................................................................................................................................................. | 6 |
4. Appoint Auditors ............................................................................................................................................... | 7 |
5. Amendment of Bylaw No. 1 .............................................................................................................................. | 8 |
6. Adoption of Advance Notice Bylaw No. 2 ......................................................................................................... | 8 |
7. Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation .................................................................................................... | 10 |
8. Other Business ............................................................................................................................................... | 10 |
ABOUT OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS ..................................................................................................... | 11 |
Director Biographies ........................................................................................................................................... | 11 |
Director Skills and Experience............................................................................................................................ | 16 |
Attendance at Board and Committee Meetings .................................................................................................. | 17 |
Director Compensation ....................................................................................................................................... | 17 |
Additional Information ......................................................................................................................................... | 21 |
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES ............................................................................................. | 23 |
Statement of Corporate Governance Practices .................................................................................................. | 25 |
Mandate of the Board of Directors...................................................................................................................... | 25 |
Meetings of the Board......................................................................................................................................... | 25 |
Size, Composition and Independence of the Board............................................................................................ | 25 |
Committees of the Board .................................................................................................................................... | 27 |
Director Over-Boarding....................................................................................................................................... | 28 |
Board Renewal and Director Term Limits ........................................................................................................... | 29 |
Board Succession and Nomination of Directors ................................................................................................. | 29 |
Diversity.............................................................................................................................................................. | 29 |
Director Orientation and Continuing Education................................................................................................... | 31 |
Board Evaluation ................................................................................................................................................ | 31 |
Board and Management Responsibilities ........................................................................................................... | 32 |
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics................................................................................................................ | 33 |
Corporate Communications and Disclosure Policy............................................................................................. | 34 |
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.................................................................................................................. | 35 |
Composition and Mandate of the Management Resources and Compensation Committee............................... | 35 |
Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation: "Say on Pay" ................................................................................. | 35 |
Compensation Discussion and Analysis ............................................................................................................. | 36 |
Key Elements of Total Compensation................................................................................................................. | 40 |
2020 Long-Term Incentive Awards..................................................................................................................... | 45 |
Retirement and Other Benefits ........................................................................................................................... | 45 |
Performance Graph ............................................................................................................................................ | 46 |
Summary Compensation Table .......................................................................................................................... | 47 |
Pension Plan Benefits......................................................................................................................................... | 49 |
Termination and Change of Control Benefits...................................................................................................... | 50 |
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans.............................................................. | 52 |
OTHER INFORMATION.............................................................................................................................. | 55 |
APPENDIX A: Bylaw No. 1.......................................................................................................................... | 56 |
APPENDIX B: Bylaw No. 2.......................................................................................................................... | 65 |
APPENDIX C: Mandate of the Board of Directors of Western Forest Products Inc.................................... | 68 |
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
March 22, 2021
Fellow Shareholders:
Western Forest Products Inc.'s 2021 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") will be held at Suite 2800, 666 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia on May 6, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. At the Meeting, we will review the business and affairs of the Corporation and ask you to elect directors and appoint auditors for the coming year, approve amendments to the Corporation's bylaws and adoption of an advance notice bylaw, and consider an advisory vote on our approach to executive compensation.
In light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the health and safety of our communities, shareholders and other stakeholders, we encourage you to vote in advance of the Meeting by proxy or voting instruction form instead of attending the Meeting in person. Along with the Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular, we also enclose the Form of Proxy for registered shareholders.
If you are considering attending the Meeting in person, we ask that you consider the most current advice of the Public Health Agency of Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health.html)and the British Columbia Ministry of Health (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/ministries-organizations/ministries/health.Due to public health restrictions and recommendations, access to the Meeting in person will be restricted or limited to essential personnel and registered shareholders and proxyholders entitled to attend and vote at the Meeting. Any person attending the meeting in person will be required to follow health and safety measures put in place by the Corporation. We ask that shareholders or proxyholders who wish to attend the Meeting in person pre-register by May 1, 2021 by emailing corporatesecretary@westernforest.com so we can provide you with information regarding the Corporation's health and safety measures that will apply to the Meeting.
In the event it is not possible or advisable to hold the Meeting in person, the Corporation may adjourn, postpone or announce alternative arrangements for the Meeting.
By Order of the Board of Directors
"Michael T. Waites"
Michael T. Waites
Chair, Board of Directors
Western Forest Products Inc.
1 / Western Forest Products Inc.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") of Western Forest Products Inc. (the "Corporation") will be held at Suite 2800, 666 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on May 6, 2021 at 9:00 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time, for the following purposes:
- to receive the annual report to shareholders, including our consolidated financial statements, together with the auditors' report thereon, and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020;
- to set the number of directors at eight;
- to elect directors for the ensuing year;
- to appoint auditors for the ensuing year and authorize the directors to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditors;
- to consider and, if deemed advisable, to ratify and approve by ordinary resolution amendments to the Corporation's Bylaw No. 1, as described in the Corporation's Management Information Circular dated March 22, 2021, which were adopted by the Corporation's board of directors on November 5, 2020;
- to consider and, if deemed advisable, to ratify and approve by ordinary resolution the adoption of Bylaw No. 2, implementing advance notice procedures relating to the nomination of directors, which was adopted by the Corporation's board of directors on November 5, 2020;
- to consider a non-binding advisory resolution on our approach to executive compensation; and
- to transact such other business as may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.
The Corporation's Board of Directors have fixed the close of business on March 22, 2021, as the record date for determining the common shareholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at the Meeting or any adjournment thereof.
The Management Information Circular accompanying this Notice provides additional information relating to the matters to be dealt with at the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.
Dated at Vancouver, BC on March 22, 2021.
By Order of the Board of Directors
"Michael T. Waites"
Michael T. Waites
Chair, Board of Directors
Western Forest Products Inc.
Registered shareholders who wish to vote in advance of the Meeting are invited to vote by signing and returning the enclosed form of proxy in the envelope provided for that purpose. A proxy will not be valid unless it is deposited at the office of Computershare Investor Services Inc., 100 University Avenue, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2Y1, Attention: Proxy Department, on or before 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) on May 4, 2021. Instructions for voting by telephone or via the Internet are located on the enclosed form of proxy.
Non-registered shareholders will be provided with voting instructions by the intermediaries who hold the shares on their behalf.
2 / Western Forest Products Inc.
VOTING INFORMATION
WHO CAN VOTE
The Board of Directors (the "Board" or "Board of Directors") of Western Forest Products Inc. ("Western", the "Corporation", "us", "we" or "our") have fixed the close of business on March 22, 2021, as the record date (the "Record Date"), which is established for the purposes of determining shareholders entitled to receive notice of and to vote at the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") referred to in the accompanying Notice of Meeting (the "Notice"). As at March 22, 2021, a total of 375,466,121 common shares (the "Shares") of Western were issued and outstanding. Each Share is entitled to one vote.
SOLICITATION OF PROXIES
This Management Information Circular (the "Circular") is furnished in connection with the solicitation by management of Western of Share owner's proxies in relation to the Meeting. The proxy solicitation will be primarily by mail, but proxies may also be solicited by phone or other ways. The cost of solicitation will be borne by the Corporation. Unless otherwise specified, all information provided in this Circular is as at March 22, 2021, and all dollar amounts are in Canadian currency.
HOW TO VOTE
You can vote by attending the Meeting in person, voting in advance of the Meeting, or appointing someone to attend the Meeting and vote your Shares (see "Voting Information - Appointing Proxies"). How you vote also depends on whether you are a registered or non-registered shareholder. You are a registered shareholder if the Shares you own are registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Computershare. You are a beneficial shareholder if the Shares you own are registered for you in the name of an intermediary. In light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the health and safety of our communities, shareholders and other stakeholders, we encourage you to vote in advance of the Meeting by proxy or voting instruction form instead of attending the Meeting in person.
Non-Registered (beneficial) Shareholders | Registered Shareholders | |
Your intermediary has sent you a voting | We have sent you a proxy form with this package. | |
instruction form with this package. | ||
Voting in | Complete the voting instruction form and return it | Complete the proxy form and return it to |
advance or | to your intermediary. You can either mark your | Computershare Investor Services no later than |
appointing | voting instructions on the voting instruction form | 9:00am Pacific Daylight Time on May 4, 2021. |
someone to | or you can appoint someone else as your proxy | You can either mark your voting instructions on |
vote for you | to attend the Meeting and vote for you. | the proxy form or you can appoint someone else |
to attend the Meeting and vote for you. | ||
Voting in | Follow the instructions on the voting instruction | Do not complete the proxy form or return it to us. |
person | form. In most cases, you can print your name in | Please bring it with you to the Meeting. Please |
the space provided on the enclosed voting | register with Computershare when you arrive at | |
instruction form and return the form as instructed | the Meeting. | |
by your intermediary. Your intermediary may also | If you want to appoint someone else as a proxy | |
allow you to do this online. Do not complete the | to attend the Meeting, you must print the person's | |
voting section, as you will be voting at the | name in the appropriate space on the proxy form | |
Meeting. | or complete another acceptable paper proxy. The | |
You should register with Computershare when | person does not need to be a shareholder but | |
you arrive at the Meeting. | must attend the Meeting to vote your Shares. | |
If you want to appoint someone else as a proxy | ||
to attend the Meeting, you must print the person's | ||
name in the appropriate space on the voting | ||
instruction form or complete another acceptable | ||
paper proxy. The person does not need to be a | ||
shareholder but must attend the Meeting to vote | ||
your Shares. | ||
3 / Western Forest Products Inc.
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Disclaimer
Western Forest Products Inc. published this content on 30 March 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 07 April 2021 07:51:09 UTC.