Chair’s Message
Dear Shareholder,
Over the past year, the board has worked diligently to oversee Cameco’s affairs and work with management on the company’s strategic direction, with a focus on achieving steady progress on our four measures of success. Our priorities included strategic focus and value creation, risk oversight and board governance, which we believe are fundamental to Cameco’s future growth and success.
Corporate strategy is addressed at every regular board meeting, and we work with the management team to ensure our strategy addresses the near- and medium-term challenges in the nuclear industry, while also positioning Cameco to benefit from the strong uranium demand we anticipate over the long term. This focus has resulted in an adjustment to Cameco’s growth plans to better match market opportunities, which we believe will position Cameco to deliver the best value to shareholders.
Strong risk oversight at the board level is another key area of importance. Management regularly presents to the board and its committees on our top-tier risks, allowing a deeper analysis of our significant risks. We also dedicated time this past year to a board workshop that focused on evaluating our risk appetite and tolerance. All of this work has helped the board develop a solid understanding of the company’s key risks, and we plan to continue our emphasis on risk oversight into 2015.
In 2014, we also devoted considerable time to ensuring we have a strong and diverse board to carry out our duties and responsibilities. We implemented a board diversity policy and undertook a rigorous review of our skills matrix to ensure we assemble the right mix of skills, experience and qualities, and achieve gender balance. We implemented a tenure policy that includes term limits to support ongoing refreshment and renewal of the board, as well as a rotation policy for committee chair and member assignments. Our goal in implementing these new policies is to balance the need for board renewal with continuity of knowledge and experience.
For many years, we have conducted annual board assessments that facilitate feedback from board members to increase the effectiveness of the board and individual members. In 2014, we implemented an independent third-party director assessment process to augment these annual assessments.
All members of the board are Cameco shareholders, and we continue to build our equity ownership. In 2014, we increased the share ownership requirements for directors to highlight its importance and reinforce our commitment to our role as directors.
Finally, on behalf of the board, I want to thank Victor Zaleschuk and Joe Colvin for their wisdom, judgment and contributions over many years of service, as both are retiring from the board this year. Victor served as our board chair for 10 of his 14 years as a director, and the board benefited greatly from his vast experience in the resource sector. Joe completes 15 years on the board, during which he brought extensive knowledge and understanding of the nuclear industry. He served as chair of the safety, health and environment committee for 14 years.
For more information on Cameco’s governance and board of directors, please see our Management Proxy Circular, which also provides instructions on how to vote your shares. Your vote is important.
The board and management thank you for your continued confidence, and we look forward to seeing you at our annual general meeting on May 22, 2015.
Neil McMillan
Chair of the board
March 11, 2015