(January 26 – 10:10 ET) – Ethical Funds Inc. today published its 2001 Proxy Voting Guidelines on its Web site at www.ethicalfunds.com.

This is the second year that the firm has publicly disclosed how it votes shares held on behalf of unitholders on corporate governance, social, and environmental proxy issues.

The guidelines disclosed last year cover environmental reporting standards, human rights in developing countries, equality of opportunity, and fair business practices for pharmaceutical companies.

The 2001 Proxy Voting Guidelines have been expanded to include disclosure of environmental risks encountered by pulp and paper companies, predatory lending, and political campaign contributions.

“Last year, Ethical Funds became the first mutual fund company in Canada to publish proxy voting guidelines and to take steps to educate our investors about the importance of proxy voting,” said Robert Walker, vice president, SRI Policy and Research. “To our knowledge, no other mutual fund company in Canada has matched our level of disclosure and transparency.”
-IE Staff