The Financial Post in its Friday edition that BCE rejected a shareholder motion to set targets to increase the number of women among its senior management during the company's annual meeting Thursday. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says the proposal came from a member of Quebec group Medac, which aims to give shareholders better representation before corporate boards. "We would like to think that it is no longer necessary to demonstrate that the skills and competencies of female directors and executives compare favourably to those of men, that there are sufficient female candidates to meet demand, and that they are prepared to rise to the challenge if given the opportunity," a Medac representative told BCE. Another shareholder who said he was a former BCE employee questioned whether it had made any effort to increase female representation in the company. "Don't turn your back on women," he told the meeting in Montreal. In a preliminary count at the meeting, 86 per cent of the votes were against the proposal. The board had advised shareholders to vote against the proposal. Women fill more than 26 per cent of the company's leadership roles, said BCE spokesman Jacqueline Michelis.