The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that times have changed at Barrick Gold -- no more fancy digs, no free lunch and no rousing speeches. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that in a sign of its shrunken times, Barrick hosted a drastically scaled back annual meeting Tuesday, the morning after delivering a first quarter earnings report that was better than analysts expected. Of the 100 people in attendance in a small conference room at the Cisco Toronto Innovation Centre, about 60 were Barrick representatives. Bankers, analysts, human rights protesters and a smattering of shareholders filled out the rest. In a brief talk, Barrick's executive chairman John Thornton, paid tribute to company founder Peter Munk, who died last month at the age of 90, but much of Mr. Thornton's speech on Tuesday was a rehash of the same presentation he made to investors in February, with a reiteration of the need to build ties with China, and stressing that the company intends to double down on its mining operations in Nevada. Long-time shareholder Geoff Richards was not sure what to make of Tuesday's affair. "It's smaller than any of the meetings before," Mr. Richards said. "Shorter, fewer people in attendance."