Good afternoon, welcome to the Annual and Special Meeting of the Shareholders of Equinox Gold Corp. My name is Ross Beaty, and I'm the Chairman of the Board of Equinox Gold. On behalf of Equinox's directors, management, and employees, I'd like to thank you for joining us today. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related public health restrictions, Equinox, of course, is holding this meeting by live audiocast. This is the second time we've done this, and I certainly dearly hope the last. Next year, I hope we'll be able to all get together in person and have a much more pleasant, and informal gathering where we can introduce ourselves to you and also have lots and lots of informal Q&A.
After the formal portion of this meeting is complete, we will hold a separate webcast where both I and Equinox Gold CEO, Christian Milau, will present an overview of Equinox's business strategy and objectives, activities underway at each of our projects, and a summary of our Q1 results, which were just reported half an hour ago. This will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions of me, Christian, and the rest of the management team. Details for joining the webcast are available on the homepage of Equinox Gold's website. Well, because this meeting is being held virtually, we have to have a special process for conduct of the meeting. Firstly, questions about a motion can be submitted by any registered shareholder or proxy holder using the questions icon on your screen.
If you're not sure how to navigate this system, please refer to the AGM guide, which was mailed to you and which is also available for download in the shareholder meetings section of Equinox's website. Number two, when asking a question, please indicate your name, which entity you represent, if any, and confirm you are a registered shareholder or proxy holder. Unless questions are procedural or directly related to motions before the meeting, they will be addressed at the company's webcast after the meeting. Rhylin Bailie, Equinox's Vice President of Investor Relations, will act as message moderator for the meeting. For the purpose of the meeting today, voting on all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot.
To give registered shareholders and proxy holders sufficient time to vote, we will open the ballot shortly, and we'll keep them open while I present each item of business to be conducted at the meeting. When you are asked to vote, you will receive a message on your screen asking you to register your votes. If you have already voted by proxy, it is important that you do not vote again here at the meeting unless you intend to change your initial vote. We'll now proceed with the formal portion of today's meeting, which should take about 15 minutes. To expedite matters, I will move and second all motions. The meeting will now come to order, and I will act as chairman. I appoint Susan Toews, Equinox Gold's General Counsel, as Secretary of the meeting.
For the purpose of this meeting, I appoint Computershare Investor Services Inc., through its representatives, as scrutineer to compute the votes of any polls taken at this meeting and to report the results to me as Chairman. The purposes of today's meeting are set out in the company's management information circular dated March 12, 2021. I confirm that the notice for this meeting, the circular, and the form of proxy were mailed to shareholders on March 24th, 2021. The company has received an affidavit confirming proof of mailing from our transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services Inc., and a copy of this affidavit will be attached as a schedule to the minutes of this meeting. Unless there's an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the notice of meeting.
Copies of the circular and other meeting materials are available on Equinox's website and under the company's profile on SEDAR and on EDGAR. The scrutineer has advised that proxies were received from the holders of a sufficient number of common shares to constitute a quorum. I therefore declare the meeting to be regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. The formal report of the scrutineer will be attached as a schedule to the minutes of this meeting. As most of you are aware, at annual meetings, most shares are represented by proxies given to management. The scrutineer has advised that a significant majority of the proxies received by management have been voted in favor of each of the director nominees and in favor of each of the other items of business. We thank you for your confidence.
As this is a virtual meeting, today's voting will be conducted by online ballot for all matters, as I've previously said. All registered shareholders and proxy holders who have properly logged in with their control number or username and wish to vote will be able to see on their screen all items of business to be voted on at this meeting. Please remember that if you have previously recorded your vote by proxy, you should not vote again unless you wish to revoke and change your original vote. The polls will be open for all items of business to be voted on at the same time. This will allow you to vote on each item immediately, or you can wait until the conclusion of discussion on each item before casting your vote.
The items of business to be voted on and your available voting options will be visible on the voting panel on your screen. Please register your votes by selecting the for or withhold buttons next to the name of each proposed director and next to each of the other resolutions. Once discussion is concluded on all items of business, we will provide a few additional moments for you to enter your votes. I will then declare voting closed on all matters of business. I now declare the online voting polls open for all items of business. I'm going to first start with the financial statements approval. I now present to the meeting the audited consolidated financial statements of Equinox Gold for the year ending December 31st, 2020, together with the auditor's report on the financial statements.
Copies of these documents have been mailed to the shareholders who requested such statements, and it is not proposed to read them to the meeting. We would be pleased, however, to deal with any questions regarding the financial statements during the company's conference call and webcast following this meeting. The next item of business is the board size. The company's articles require its board to consist of the greater of three directors or the number set by ordinary resolution. Equinox Gold is seeking approval to fix the number of directors at nine. I move and second the motion to fix the number of directors of the company at nine. The next item is the election of directors. Management nominates the following nine individuals to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders, or until their successors are elected or appointed.
Ross Beaty, Lenard Boggio, Maryse Bélanger, Tim Breen, Gordon Campbell, General Wesley Clark, Dr. Sally Eyre, Marshall Koval, and Christian Milau. Each nominee has confirmed that he or she is prepared to serve as a director. Equinox Gold has adopted an advance notice policy that requires shareholders to give the company advance notice of proposed director nominations at the annual shareholders' meeting. Equinox did not receive notice of any such nominations for this meeting. As a result, I declare the nominations closed, and I move and second a motion to elect each of the directors. Unless there are any questions, I will move on. I gather we have not received questions.
We have not received any questions.
Thank you. The next item of business is the appointment of Equinox Gold's auditor. I move and second the motion to appoint KPMG LLP as auditor of the company to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders, and that the board be authorized to fix KPMG's remuneration. Unless there are any questions, I will move on.
We have not received any questions.
Thank you. The next item of business is the proposed amendments to the company's articles. The article amendments increase the quorum for the transaction business at a meeting of shareholders to at least two persons present or represented by proxy holding 33% or more of the shares entitled to vote at such meeting and remove provisions allowing for the appointment of alternate directors. I move and second the motion that number one, the existing articles of the company be amended as set out at Schedule A of the company's management information circular, dated March 12th, 2021. Two, these resolutions shall be effective on the date and time that they are deposited at the company's records office.
Three, any one director or officer of the company is authorized and directed for and in the name of and on behalf of the company to execute or cause to be executed and to deliver or cause to be delivered all such documents and to do or cause to be done all such acts and things as in the opinion of such director or officer may be necessary or desirable in order to carry out the terms of those resolutions. Such determination to be conclusively evidenced by the execution and delivery of such documents or the doing of any such thing. How's that? Unless there are questions, I will move on.
We have not received any questions.
Thank you. The last item of business is the say on pay advisory vote. I move and second a motion that on an advisory basis and not to diminish the role and responsibilities of the board, Equinox Gold's shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the company's management information circular dated March 12th, 2021, delivered in advance of the meeting. These are all the resolutions before the meeting. We will provide a few more moments for you to complete your electronic ballots, and once the electronic balloting closes, the voting page will disappear, and your votes will automatically be submitted.
Thank you. I'm just waiting to hear from Computershare if the polls have been closed.
Okay.
Okay. Computershare says they're waiting to hear that you've announced that you're closing, but we did announce that, so there must be a bit of a 20-second delay between us. Hopefully we'll hear shortly. I should have given you some jokes to tell, Ross.
Yes. Well, I can tell some jokes, but I don't think anyone would want to hear them. They're bad.
On behalf of Computershare, I can now confirm that the polls have closed.
Okay, thanks for that. I ask the scrutineer compile and report regarding the results of voting on all business matters. The results of voting will be included with the minutes of this meeting and will be announced in a press release later today in accordance with the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Is there any further business for the formal portion of the meeting?
There are no outstanding questions related to the business of the meeting.
Okay, since there's no further business, I'll move and second that this meeting now terminate and declare the formal part of this meeting to be concluded. We will now take a short break, and we will reconvene at 2:00 P.M. Vancouver time for the corporate update. You will find information on how to join the conference call and webcast on the homepage of Equinox Gold's website. I look forward to speaking with you shortly. Thank you for joining us today. The end.
This concludes the meeting . You may now disconnect.