The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition BCE is calling for shareholders to reject a resolution that would impose a strict quota on the proportion of women who sit on its board. The Post's Christina Pellegrini writes that in BCE's proxy circular, the company urges owners to vote against a proposal that would force the telco to boost female representation from the 15 per cent of directors it maintains today to a minimum of 40 per cent by 2020. Although regulators have in recent years urged corporate Canada to bridge the gender gap in the boardroom, BCE's 13-person board reiterated its pledge that females will occupy at least one-quarter of independent directorships by the end of 2017. The resolution will come to a vote at the annual meeting on April 30. The proposal is one of three put forth by a group of shareholders called the Mouvement d'education et de defense des actionnaires (Medac). Inspired by the strides made in Europe as a result of legislated diversity quotas in countries such as Norway, Finland and France, Medac president Daniel Thouin is demanding that BCE aim higher than just its target. This is the first time Medac has pressed BCE to adopt a strict 40-per-cent quota.