The Vancouver-based Shareholder Association for Research and Education reports that it engaged with 27 companies in the first quarter concerning various issues, from executive pay to human rights and environmental issues.

The organization released its first-quarter engagement report on Thursday.

SHARE scored its biggest victory, along with Meritas Mutual Funds, on the issue of companies holding advisory votes on executive compensation. It brought the issue to nine Canadian companies: Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Potash Corp, Nortel Networks, Royal Bank, Sun Life Financial, TD Bank, and TMX Group. All of the companies, with the exception of Nortel (which is currently under bankruptcy protection) have voluntarily agreed to implement the ‘say on pay’ vote at their 2010 annual shareholder meetings, SHARE said.

Of the ‘say on pay’ shareholder proposals that went to a ballot this year, the average shareholder support was 52.6%, up from about 40% for similar resolutions at the banks last year, it reported.

During the quarter SHARE took on a new issue: child and forced labour in the cotton industry. It reports that in addition to signing a joint investor letter to major US brands and retailers, it also assisted Meritas Mutual Funds in writing to three Canadian apparel companies (Forzani Group, Sears Canada, and Canadian Tire (Mark’s Work Wearhouse)), seeking information about each company’s cotton sourcing practices.

SHARE said it also continued to push for greater disclosure of environmental and social performance information at four firms, it wrote to five companies to inquire about their paper procurement policies and practices; and it wrote to a couple of energy companies concerning specific projects.

IE