RE:RE:New Board Member Further comments on this matter from Stockwatch Energy on 6/27
Tony Berthelet's Prairie Provident Resources Inc. (PPR) added three cents to 23.5 cents on 706,300 shares, after bringing in a new board member. It chose Matthew Shyba. Mr. Shyba is a lawyer and a shareholder of Prairie Provident, owning 4.2 million of its 128 million shares. He is the former associate general counsel of AutoCanada, and before that worked in the securities and capital markets group of Borden Ladner Gervais. Three months ago, he incorporated his own private investment firm, the Calgary-based Shyba Capital. Prairie Provident cheered his addition as "an important step in enhancing our board's alignment with shareholders."
The company may be feeling a bit sensitive these days about "alignment with shareholders." Last month, just two days before the scheduled annual meeting, two of the board's six directors (Derek Petrie and Rob Wonnacott) abruptly stepped down. Their resignations came at a time when several energy directors were leaving board seats prior to annual meetings, some of them explicitly saying it was because the proxies received ahead of the meetings were unpromising. Prairie Provident made no such comments, but said it would start "reviewing the board's skills matrix to ensure an optimal mix of competencies and perspectives." Evidently it feels that Mr. Shyba's competencies and perspectives will make a good first addition.