In our annual review of the topics shaping governance today, we consider the ideas that will trend in boardrooms across Canada for months and years ahead. The dominant theme in Davies Governance Insights 2012 is the ability of the shareholder to take control of the governance agenda. In the Power and Influence of Canadian Shareholders, we look at three very different situations in which shareholders succeeded in their demands for governance change. <br /><br />In Boards Seek Fairness for All Shareholders, we describe the TELUS response to empty voting and the trend among mining companies to adopt advance notice bylaws. Both reflect the efforts of boards to resist shareholder actions that do not benefit all shareholders. In Shareholder Democracy Movement Continues we consider the status of majority voting and say on pay and Focus on the Integrity of the Shareholder Vote Intensifies brings up to date developments in the very important, if complex, area of the proxy voting system in Canada. Challenges in Overseeing Operations in Emerging Markets sets out the most important challenges demanding the attention of boards and management teams of issuers with operations in emerging markets. We end our review with a catalogue of the most recent developments in governance standards under New Governance Guidelines, Criteria and Rankings.