2014 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION CIRCULAR MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. MOVING FORWARD STRONGER SUMMARY OF 2014 CIRCULAR This summary highlights information found in this year’s Circular. This summary does not contain all information you may need in order to make an informed decision as to how to vote. Please ensure you read the entire Circular carefully before voting. ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS RECORD DATE Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. C.T. March 24, 2014 The Metropolitan Entertainment Centre (The Met) VOTING ELIGIBILITY 281 Donald Street, Winnipeg, MB See page 3 for information regarding voting eligibility RECOMMENDATION FROM BOARD INFORMATION ON PAGE FOR each Director Nominee 6 FOR Ernst & Young LLP 7 FOR supporting the current executive compensation practices 7 DIRECTOR NOMINEES The following table is a quick overview of the proposed Director nominees for the Board, including one new Director – Judi Hand. There is significantly more detail in the Circular. We spend a great deal of time planning to ensure that our Board has the right mix of skills and experiences to be effective in their roles, and this year we significantly enhanced our “gap analysis” as we conducted a Director search process. Committees Name Director Since Occupation Expertise Independent Human Resources Audit Governance & Nominating Strategic Committee Telecommunications/Converged Technology Pierre J. Blouin 2006 CEO Consumer Marketing/Insights Consumer Facing Telecommunications/Converged Technology Jocelyne M. Côté-O’Hara 1997 Corporate Director Strategic Planning Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management Strategic Planning Executive at N. Ashleigh Everett 1997 Human Resources/Compensation C Royal Canadian Securities Consumer Facing Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management The Honourable Gary A. Filmon 2003 Corporate Director Human Resources/Compensation C Strategic Planning Consumer Marketing/Insights President & General Manager Judi Hand 2014 Telecommunications/Converged Technology Revana Strategic Planning Financial Expert Gregory J. Hanson 2007 Corporate Director Strategic Planning Human Resources/Compensation Financial Expert Kishore Kapoor 2006 Corporate Director C C Strategic Planning Financial Expert David G. Leith 2009 Corporate Director Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management Ex Ex Ex Strategic Planning Strategic Planning Executive at H. Sanford Riley 2011 Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management Richardson Financial Consumer Facing Human Resources/Compensation D. Samuel Schellenberg 1989 Corporate Director Strategic Planning Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management Telecommunications/Converged Technology Carol M. Stephenson 2008 Corporate Director Human Resources/Compensation Regulatory/Law/Government/Risk Management Ex – Ex Officio Member of Committee C – Committee Chair SUMMARY OF 2014 CIRCULAR AUDITOR This year, the Audit Committee conducted an RFP process for its external auditor. At the end of this process, Ernst & Young LLP was selected to serve as the Company’s auditors. There had been no disagreements or disputes with the prior auditor, Deloitte LLP, who had been the Company’s auditor for some time. To ensure Ernst & Young LLP remains independent, we have stringent internal governance policies to restrict the services they can provide to the Company outside of their audit services. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ADVISORY VOTE We have adopted the model “say on pay” advisory vote as recommended by the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance. This is the third year we are holding this vote. Last year, approximately 95% of our shareholders voted in support. The Board recommends a FOR vote because it believes that our compensation policies and practices are effective. A common theme in the Circular is the outlining of how “pay” received by our executives is directly linked to the Company’s “performance”, and we presented our compensation philosophy and methodology in a clear and transparent manner. For this reason, we feel confident our shareholders will express their support with our practices. PAY FOR PERFORMANCE The following table will help you understand our “pay for performance” compensation philosophy at work. In 2011 and 2012, the Company performed reasonably close to expecations, and each NEO’s “at risk” compensation was realized at a level closer to target. In contrast, in 2013 the Company was signficiantly disrupted by a long process to sell the Allstream division, that was subsequently unexpectedly rejected by the Federal Government. In 2013, both financial results were below expectations and the share price did not perform as strongly and as a result 18.4% of total direct compensation was not or will not be realized. The following table shows some elements of our executive’s total direct compensation, as well as the linkages between the percentage of “total compensation realized” and the in-year Total Shareholder Return. Elements of Total Direct Compensation Percentage of Percentage of Total Target Total Target In-Year Total Year Total Direct Direct Shareholder Name and Stock Base Salary PSUs RSUs Bonus / VPP Direct Compensation Compensation Return Principal Position Options Compensation “At Risk" Realized ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) (%) (%) (%) 2013 850,000 1,338,762 892,5301 0 667,951 3,749,243 80 80 -3.6 Pierre J. Blouin Chief Executive 2012 850,000 892,521 669,399 669,382 881,739 3,963,041 78 87 15.1 Officer 2011 824,000 937,809 625,217 0 877,251 3,264,277 73 113 9.9 2013 464,500 261,294 319,374 0 228,061 1,273,229 65 85 -3.6 Wayne S. Demkey Chief Financial Officer 2012 446,600 195,390 307,064 55,836 305,207 1,310,097 65 97 15.1 2011 425,300 198,473 311,851 56,700 310,988 1,303,312 66 102 9.9 2013 503,700 339,999 415,569 0 291,587 1,550,855 68 85 -3.6 Kelvin A. Shepherd President MTS 2012 498,700 261,825 411,457 74,810 315,889 1,562,681 68 93 15.1 2011 484,100 254,173 399,388 72,625 381,091 1,591,377 68 102 9.9 2013 487,800 329,294 402,441 0 142,999 1,362,534 68 76 -3.6 Dean L. Prevost President Allstream 2012 475,900 249,852 392,624 71,390 320,472 1,510,238 68 94 15.1 2011 453,200 237,945 373,918 67,991 333,524 1,466,578 68 100 9.9 2013 348,384 156,801 191,652 0 142,543 839,380 60 86 -3.6 Paul A. Beauregard Chief Corporate & Strategy Officer & 2012 303,200 106,141 166,783 30,330 172,672 779,126 60 97 15.1 Corporate Secretary 2011 288,750 83,798 127,882 8,931 159,501 668,862 55 104 9.9 1 Excludes grant of RSUs in lieu of pension benefits, which is not considered direct compensation. See page 45 of the Circular for methodology, which contains important assumptions, and also the Summary Compensation Table on page 72 of the Circular for a description of other elements of compensation not included in the above table. CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1 OUR COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY AND PRINCIPLES 45 NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NEW IN 2014 46 OF SHAREHOLDERS 2 SELF-REPORTING AGAINST CCGG’S COMPENSATION PRINCIPLES 46 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION CIRCULAR 3 STRUCTURE OF COMPENSATION DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS 48 VOTING INFORMATION 3 REVIEWING THE COMPANY’S COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY 48 BUSINESS OF THE MEETING 6 ROLE OF THE HRCC IN EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 48 RECEIVING OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 6 EXTERNAL COMPENSATION CONSULTANT AND ELECTION OF DIRECTORS 6 INDEPENDENT COUNSEL 49 APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR 7 USE OF EXTERNAL REFERENCES AS BENCHMARKS 50 ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 8 BUILDING BLOCKS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 52 BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS 22 SHARE OWNERSHIP GUIDELINES AND OWNERSHIP PROGRAMS 54 EVALUATION OF BOARD AND COMMITTEE PERFORMANCE 23 RISK ASSESSMENT AND OVERSIGHT 55 PRACTICE IN ACTION – 2013 PERFORMANCE & RESULTS 58 DIRECTOR SELECTION & SUCCESSION PLANNING 25 2013 PERFORMANCE MEASURES 58 DIVERSITY CONSIDERATIONS 26 REFLECTION ON 2013 RESULTS 59 DIRECTOR TERM LIMITS 27 IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE ON VPP AWARDS 62 MAJORITY VOTING POLICY 27 IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE ON PSU AWARDS 64 BOARD INTERLOCKS, “OVERBOARDING” & IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE ON RSU AWARDS 66 CHAIR ROTATION POLICIES 27 IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE ON STOCK OPTION AWARDS 68 CONTINUING EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIRECTORS 28 IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE ON EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PLAN 68 MANDATORY RETIREMENT POLICY 30 TOTAL COMPENSATION OF NEOS 69 ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC BOARD BOOKS 30 DETERMINATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMPENSATION 70 NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS' 30 SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE 72 COMPENSATION 30 CEO ECONOMIC COMPENSATION 73 MINIMUM SHARE OWNERSHIP REQUIREMENT 32 PAY FOR PERFORMANCE 73 DIRECTORS’ SHARE APPRECIATION PLAN 32 INCENTIVE PLAN AWARDS 81 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN 32 BOARD APPROVAL 85 EQUITY-BASED INVESTMENT AND YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGES 33 PENSION PLAN BENEFITS 85 DIRECTOR COMPENSATION TABLE 35 EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, TERMINATION CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 36 AND CHANGE OF CONTROL BENEFITS 92 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES & SUBSIDIARY GOVERNANCE 36 ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURE & INFORMATION 95 AUDIT COMMITTEE SCHEDULE A 96 REPORT & WORKPLAN 37 APPENDIX 1 102 GOVERNANCE & NOMINATING COMMITTEE BOARD MANDATE 102 REPORT & WORKPLAN 39 APPENDIX 2 103 HUMAN RESOURCES & COMPENSATION COMMITTEE DESCRIPTION OF NON-IFRS MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE 103 REPORT & WORKPLAN 41 APPENDIX 3 104 STRATEGIC COMMITTEE REPORT 43 2013 PERFORMANCE MEASURES 104 EXECUTIVE AND CEO SUCCESSION PLANNING 43 APPENDIX 4 106 SHAREHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 44 AUDITOR REPORTING PACKAGE 106 LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Fellow Shareholders, view is that a periodic change in auditors makes sense, and reflects the interests of our shareholders. In 2013 we demonstrated the resiliency of our business, our commitment to delivering value to our shareholders and customers, The Human Resources and Compensation Committee undertook a and an ability to manage through a changing and challenging similar process which resulted in the engagement of Hugessen regulatory and business environment. The Company enters 2014 Consulting as the Board’s independent compensation consultant to ready to move forward stronger, thanks to the dedication, talent ensure it was receiving the best and most effective independent and resilience of our entire team.