Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 2023 Power Corporation of Canada annual meeting of shareholders.
I am André Desmarais, and I will have the privilege to chair this meeting. I declare the meeting open. Allow me to introduce you to the people who are with me. Mr. Jeffrey Orr, President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as Mr. Stéphane Lemay, Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of the Corporation. Mr. Lemay will act as Secretary of the meeting.
Once again, this year we opted for a virtual meeting to enable increased shareholder participation and attendance. Holding our meeting virtually means there are some differences from the way in-person meetings are usually conducted. Our goal is to replicate as best we can the experience you have if we are meeting in person. The person who will be speaking today are not all at the same physical location. For this reason, I may pause from time to time to allow coordination from different locations. I will also pause at certain points during the meeting to provide an opportunity to vote or ask questions online. In the unlikely event that the technological disruption takes place and prevents me from continuing to chair the meeting, Mr. Jeffrey Orr, the President and CEO of the Corporation, will act as Chairman of the meeting.
As in the past years, we expect that the vast majority of votes will be cast in advance of the meeting by proxy. That said, registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders will be allowed to vote online at the meeting in accordance with the instructions to be provided. Given the virtual format of the meeting, and in order for us to expeditiously undertake discussions on any matters proposed for a vote, shareholders who have specific questions on a formal item of business can submit such questions in writing now, clearly identifying the applicable item of format business as well as your name and contact information. Shareholders can submit questions by clicking on the messaging icon and typing in and submitting their question. During the course of this meeting, at the appropriate time, relevant questions will be addressed prior to voting on the applicable motions.
Following the formal meeting, we will have a question and answer session. If you have questions specifically related to the business of the Corporation, but not strictly specifically related to an item of the agenda, please feel free to submit this question using the same method at any time. They will be considered at the conclusion of the meeting. If we are unable to answer your question during this meeting, Mr. Lemay or a member of his team will follow up with you after the meeting if you have provided your contact information with your question.
Shareholders and proxy holders, sorry, are asked to be brief and concise and to address only one topic per question. Questions from multiple shareholders on the same topic and that are otherwise related will be summarized and answered together. We do not intend to address questions that are irrelevant to the corporation, its subsidiaries or investing companies' business or to the business of the meeting that are derogatory or otherwise offensive or repetitive or furtherance of a shareholder's personal or business interests, or are out of order or otherwise inappropriate. The virtual meeting platform is being provided in both English and French, and we invite you to submit your questions in either English or French. At this meeting and during management's presentation, we may make statements containing forward-looking information.
I bring it to your attention the caution regarding such forward-looking statements, a copy of which is now shown on screen and may also be referenced electronically on the left side of your screen.
I would now like to nominate Mrs. Pina Pacifico and Mrs. Theresa De Luca of Computershare Investor Services Inc. as scrutineers of this meeting. The scrutineers have produced a report on attendance, and I confirm that the requisite quorum of shareholders is present in person or represented by proxy at this meeting. The secretary has also advised me that the notice of meeting and the related documents were sent in compliance with applicable requirements. I therefore declare this meeting to be duly convened and properly constituted to conduct the business of the corporation.
The voting at today's meeting will be conducted by online ballot. If you are a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder that has already voted by proxy, there will be no need for you to vote online. However, if you wish to change your previously submitted vote, you can simply vote when prompted. The polls will be opened for all items of business to be voted on at the same time. This will allow you to vote on each item immediately, and if you prefer, you may wait until the conclusion of the discussion on each item prior to the casting of the vote. Once the polls have been opened, the items of the business to be voted on and your available voting options will be visible on the voting panel accessible to the top of your screen.
To submit a vote, please click on the voting choice displayed on your screen. Once discussion has been concluded on all the items of business, you will have a moment to enter your votes, I will then declare the voting closed on all matters of business. I now declare the polls open on all matters of business. The first item of business is the presentation of the financial statements. As permitted by the Canada Securities regulators, we have used notice and access to deliver our 2023 management proxy circular and our annual financial statements and related management discussion and analysis. Shareholders have received by mail a notice and access notification providing information on how to access these documents online and how to request a paper copy. Copies of our annual financial statements are available in our website and under our profile on SEDAR+.
At this time, and before moving to other items of business, I would like to invite Mr. Jeffrey Orr to make a few remarks. Before giving him the floor, I would first like to express our most sincere thanks to all the employees of Power Corporation and those of our group companies.
Are extremely grateful to have some of the very best people in the industry evolving within our various businesses, including at the very top, our CEO, Mr. Jeffrey Orr. I would like to recognize the tremendous efforts deployed by Jeff and his senior management team who continue to deliver solid performance for our shareholders and other stakeholders, despite a challenging environment. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication. Finally, we thank you, our shareholders, for your continued trust year after year. With that, I'll ask Mr. Orr to now address the meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To all of us joining us today for Power Corporation's Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
For joining us here today for today's meeting.
In early 2022, public attention shifted quickly from the pandemic and other pressing social issues to the war in Ukraine, energy security, rising inflation, rising interest rates, and volatile financial markets. This environment underscored the need for individual and businesses to be prepared and have a plan. In this regard, the advice, planning, and financial security provided to our clients by our group companies has never been more important. All the while, the need to address the risks posed by climate change and to pursue greater equity and inclusion in our society and enhance diversity in our workplaces has in no way diminished.
Across Power and our group companies, resources and energy continues to be devoted to making progress on these important challenges. Success in meeting these challenges is vital to our success as a company, as it is for all of us collectively as a society. Throughout the year, we continued to embed ESG considerations in our businesses through our board representation at our group companies, through our senior management engagement, through our knowledge sharing and our group-wide working groups. On climate, our group companies are engaged in better understanding their own footprint and that of their portfolios. Great-West Lifeco, IGM, GBL have each set greenhouse gas emission-related targets. Great-West Lifeco, IGM, and Power's alternative investment platforms are also growing their sustainable investment platforms and solutions to give our customers more options to invest and support the global climate transition movement.
Across our companies, important steps were made to attract, retain, and develop diverse talent and nurture inclusive and equitable workplaces. Both Great-West Lifeco and IGM set targets to increase the representation of women and employees from underrepresented groups within their respective leadership, management, and general workforce. They're progressing well towards the achievement of these targets. In the spirit of truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, several initiatives were also rolled out to build greater awareness at work and in the community.
In line with our deeply held value of corporate citizenship, the Power Group has also invested substantially in our communities in 2022, with close to CAD 44 million in contributions to over 1,800 community organizations. Attracting and developing employees with the right skills and expertise, as well as building thriving cultures, is more important than ever. As we emerge from the pandemic, we enhanced existing employee development programs, emphasized the importance of health and wellness, and sought to build flexible, balanced, and engaging workplaces.
In 2022, we continued in the execution of our value creation strategy that was announced as part of the reorganization of Power Corporation and Power Financial in early 2020. The strategy includes three levers, realizing higher organic growth at our publicly traded operating companies, adding to that growth through active capital deployment such as mergers and acquisition activity. Finally, creating additional returns through various opportunities at the Power Corporation level. The strategy involves simplifying our group in several ways. Simplifying what we do, focusing on financial services, not diversification. Simplifying how we are structured, and simplifying how we communicate to our various stakeholders. While we are still at early stages of executing our strategy, it has already yielded strong results. Our shareholder returns have realized...
Our shareholders, excuse me, have realized attractive total returns over the last one, two and three-year periods above those of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Financial Services benchmark, despite the challenging conditions and the macro environment that have prevailed during the past several years. All in all, earnings in 2022 for Power Corporation were solid in a challenging year. Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial represent approximately 75% of the fair value of the corporation's assets. They produce the great majority of Power's recurring earnings from year to year. In 2022, Great-West Lifeco and IGM achieved solid earnings despite significantly lower equity and bond market levels relative to 2021, which reduced fee income at both companies. The combination of strong business momentum across the many business platforms that they own and discipline in expense management contributed to the solid performance.
In addition to delivering solid earnings, Great-West Lifeco and IGM have been transforming their businesses to position them for greater growth in the future. Great-West Lifeco has significantly transformed its U.S. business. Since 2019, it exited its individual insurance business and made three significant acquisitions to position Empower as a market leader in the U.S. retirement space with a fast-growing business in wealth management. Today, Empower is the second-largest U.S. retirement services provider. It serves 18 million individuals in the United States, and it has $1.4 trillion of assets under administration. In 2022, Empower completed the integration of MassMutual's retirement services business and Personal Capital meeting or exceeding the objectives that were set in 2020 when those two acquisitions were announced, and it completed the acquisition of Prudential's first full service retirement business.
Great-West Lifeco also strengthening its leading Canadian business, Canada Life. In 2019, it combined Great-West Life, London Life, and Canada Life into one larger company, Canada Life, now serving 12 million Canadians. Last month, Canada Life announced it was accelerating its vision of establishing a leading wealth management platform for independent advisors and their clients by agreeing to acquire Investment Planning Counsel from IGM Financial. Canada Life is building one of Canada's largest non-bank wealth providers, positioning it for strong organic growth.
IGM has also invested meaningfully over the last few years to reposition its business for long-term success. IG Wealth has retooled its advisor force and revamped its product suite and its technology platform for the benefit of its clients and to cater to high net worth clients. In December, IG Wealth announced a strategic agreement to have nesto, a company in one of our Portage Fintech funds, provide next generation white label mortgage services to IG Wealth's clients across Canada. In 2020, Mackenzie acquired GLC from Canada Life, strengthening its position as a Canadian leading asset manager. Mackenzie also acquired Northleaf and launched numerous alternative investment products to give Canadian individuals access to private market investment solutions. Earlier this year, IGM completed the purchase of Power's position in China AMC, combining the group's ownership of China AMC in one place under IGM.
Just a few weeks ago, IGM announced the acquisition of 24.5% of the high-growth U.S. growth manager, Rockefeller Capital Management, for $622 million. This will expand IGM's footprint into the U.S. with an iconic and unparalleled brand, Rockefeller, and a business model focused on the high net worth and ultra-high net worth segments.
IGM now has leading businesses in its home market in Canada and has significant growth drivers in the U.S. and in China, the two largest markets of, in the world, through Rockefeller Capital Management and China AMC. Moving to GBL. GBL and the other investments held by Power, which represent approximately 25% of the fair value of the corporation's assets, their earnings can be volatile from period to period given the nature of their respective business strategies and their stage of development. In 2022, GBL continued to pursue a strategy of increasing its investment mix towards private assets with 23% of its assets now in private holdings. GBL's business model and strategy focus on growing the value of its investment portfolio over time versus producing stable earnings.
For example, this past March, one of GBL's investments, Webhelp, announced a transaction to combine with Concentrix. GBL has recorded cumulative accounting losses from its ownership of Webhelp over the past few years, even though Webhelp's value has been increasing. Transaction validated GBL's strategy of investing in Webhelp and valued GBL's interest at EUR 1.5 billion at the date of the announcement, which represents a 1.58x multiple on its initial investment made in 2019. The alternative asset management businesses that Power has are also in early stages of development, and some of the standalone businesses are as well. They're not producing recurring earnings.
These companies can experience large variations in value that sometimes flow through Power's income statements, generating overall gains in years like 2020 and 2021, they can also occasionally produce losses as they did in 2022. Sagard and Power Sustainable continued to fundraise and build scale through the launch of new strategies and funds in 2022. They raised a total of CAD 2.54 billion last year in a pretty difficult environment, almost all of that was from third parties and associated companies. Power Sustainable launched Power Sustainable Lios , its North American agri-food private equity strategy, it closed the second vintage of its Power Sustainable Energy Infrastructure Partnership. In early 2023, Power Sustainable Capital also launched its global and European infrastructure credit strategies.
For its part, Sagard launched Portage Capital Solutions, a late-stage fintech-focused fund, as well as its Sagard Senior Lending Partners Fund. A few weeks ago, it closed the Sagard NewGen fund. Sagard also announced the final close of its third Portage Ventures Fund, which is its fintech fund. At the end of 2022, the platforms now have CAD 21 billion in funded and unfunded assets under management. That's up from CAD 19 billion at the end of 2021, but up four times the amount under management just three years ago. The growth has been driven by third parties and associated companies, consistent with the strategy we announced at Power. Power currently has about CAD 2.5 billion underpinning these strategies, which is about the same amount it had three years ago.
As both platforms continue to mature, we expect the scale generated by third-party fundraisers and product launches will drive both Sagard and Power Sustainable towards positive fee-related earnings. The Power level, we have created value in the past few years by monetizing assets and using proceeds to buy back Power Corporation shares. Since 2021, we have monetized $1.8 billion worth of asset. In parallel, we've surfaced value at our standalone businesses by taking Lion Electric public and raising capital at Lumenpulse.
CAD 7 billion of capital to its shareholders through CAD 1.3 billion in dividends paid and another CAD 415 million of shares repurchased. The corporation repurchased just over 11 million subordinate voting shares for cancellation, reducing the share count overall or representing 1.7% of its total participating shares. We did that while building cash and maintaining a very strong financial position. As of March 31st, Power has approximately CAD 1.35 billion of available cash, which includes net proceeds from the sale of China MC received in January this year. In March of 2023, the corporation also declared a quarterly dividend of CAD 0.525 per participating share, which was an increase of 6.1%. Underlying our value creation strategy is our commitment to improving communication with our stakeholders.
This has been a group-wide effort comprised of increasing our regulatory disclosure, improving the transparency and the clarity of these disclosures, and constantly enhancing investor and analyst engagement. Over the past several years, our value creation strategy has provided a clear path to guide Power's decisions and actions through the many challenges and risks that have presented themselves by global events. Strategy has led to the discount to net asset value coming down from our pre-reorganization average of 34%, even though this decline doesn't go in a straight line, and it can vary from period to period. Now I will turn Power Corporation's results for the first quarter of 2023. Of note, Great-West Lifeco adopted new accounting standards, IFRS 17 and IFRS 9.
IFRS 17, in particular, was a milestone which marks the culmination of a multi-year enterprise-wide initiative at Great-West. Entire insurance industry across the world is adopting that, but Great-West was one of the very first companies globally to adopt it and announce their results last week. The corporation, Power Corp, that is reporting under the new standards for the first time for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your patience.
Thank you for your patience. We've had a small technical problem.
Pictures here, thank you for your patience. We'll carry on simply with the slides, you'll hear us on audio while they work and see if they can't get us back on camera. At the risk of, I'm not sure exactly where we cut off, so I'm gonna go back to the first quarter earnings in case we were cut off in the middle of that. I mentioned that Great-West Life had adopted IFRS 17 and IFRS 9, which is a new standard accounting for the insurance industry. That flowed through Power's results. Net earnings were CAD 313 million or CAD 0.47 a share for the first quarter of 2023, compared with CAD 862 or CAD 1.28 in 2022.
Adjusted net earnings were CAD 514 million or CAD 0.77 a share, up from CAD 442 million or CAD 0.65 a share last year.
As we continue to execute our strategy, realizing the benefits of our growth drivers at operating companies, continuing to simplify our structure, building scaled and profitable alternative asset managers, and returning capital to shareholders, we see a path to creating further value for shareholders. While we recognize that we are operating in an environment of heightened risk, we are confident that we are well-positioned and optimistic about the opportunities in front of us. We would like to thank our shareholders for their support and our clients and business partners for the trust they place in us. We also thank our talented management teams and employees for their dedication and hard work.
We want to thank all our shareholders for their support and our clients and our business partners for the trust they place in us. We also thank our talented management teams and our employees for their dedication and hard work. With that, I will turn the microphone back to you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Jeff. Thank you for a very good exposé. The next item of business on the agenda is the election of directors. I would like to ask Mr. Stéphane Lemay to propose the nominees.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I nominate the following 14 persons for election as directors of the corporation to hold office until the next meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected, subject to the provisions of the corporation's bylaws. Messieurs Pierre Beaudoin, Marcel Coutu, André Desmarais, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Gary Doer, Anthony Graham, Ms. Sharon MacLeod, Ms. Paula Madoff, Ms. Isabelle Marcoux , Messieurs Christian Noyer, Jeffrey Orr, Timothy Ryan, Siim Vanaselja, and Ms. Elizabeth Wilson.
Have any nominations or questions come in from shareholders specifically on this item?
Mr. Chairman, we've received a question on director election from Mr. Alan Abrams, which I will read out to you. Looking at the Power Corp directors nominated, it appears to exceed what is required. Of the 14 directors nominated, eight are also directors of GWL, six are also directors of IGM, and six are also directors of PFC. I would think you would only need two or three directors carry over between boards. The extra directors would appear not to add additional benefit to the board meetings.
Okay. I'm to answer this question now, correct?
Yes.
We have named these directors now. We have as what we believe anyhow is an excellent board of directors. We have added a great deal of diversity to our board lately. Yes, we do have directors from the different subsidiaries at the same time, because it is really important for people to understand our businesses as deeply as they possibly can to be able to make the contribution that they make at the higher holding level. We actually view it as an asset and look forward to their contributions as a result.
In the end, I would say that we encourage and like our directors to have some directorships in the subsidiaries in order to make sure that they really have the time to understand the businesses as well as they possibly can so that they can contribute better. That is the reason why we do it, and we think it's paid off really well for ourselves.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can confirm that we have not received other questions or other nominations from shareholders specifically on this item.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Lemay. As previously noted, registered shareholders or their duly appointed proxy holders can vote by selecting the applicable voting options on the voting panel displayed on their screens. If you have previously submitted a completed proxy, it's not necessary to vote again. A vote made using the online ballot will revoke any previously submitted vote.
The next item of business is the appointment of auditors. I would ask Mr. Stéphane Lemay to present a motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Deloitte be appointed auditors of the corporation to hold office until the next annual meetings of shareholders, meeting of shareholders.
Thank you, Mr. Lemay. Have any questions come in from shareholders specifically on this motion?
I confirm we have not received questions from shareholders specifically on this motion, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Lemay. I now invite registered shareholders or their duly appointed proxy holders to vote on these items. If you have previously submitted a completed proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. A vote made using the online ballot will revoke any previously submitted proxy.
The next item of business is the approval of the non-binding advisory resolution on the corporate's approach to executive compensation. Would Monsieur Stéphane Lemay please present the motion?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the non-binding advisory resolution on the corporation's approach to executive compensation, as presented in the corporation's management proxy circular, be approved.
Thank you, Monsieur Lemay. Have you any questions come in from shareholders specifically on this motion?
Mr. Chairman, I can confirm that we have not received questions from shareholders specifically on this motion.
Thank you, Mr Lemay. Now I invite the registered shareholders and their duly appointed proxy holders to vote on this item. If you have previously submitted a completed proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. A vote made using the online ballot will revoke any previously submitted proxy.
We will now turn to shareholder proposals. The corporation received four shareholder proposals. The Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires, MÉDAC, has submitted three proposals to the corporation, and the Shareholder Association for Research and Education, or SHARE, has submitted a proposal to the corporation on behalf of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Community Trust. Following discussions with MÉDAC and with SHARE, these proposals were subsequently withdrawn and are not submitted to a shareholder vote. Each of the four proposals and the corporation's responses thereto, are set forth in the management proxy circular dated March 17, 2023. I'll now invite Mr. Willie Gagnon from MÉDAC to make a few comments on MÉDAC's proposals. Mr. Gagnon, please proceed. Yes. Can you hear me clearly? Yes, we can hear you, Mr. Gagnon. Good day, Mr.
Chairman, I'm happy to see you. I'm Willie Gagnon from the Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires. There will not be any presentation from SHARE on their proposal. Is that correct? Yes, that's right. We have presented three shareholder proposals. We agreed with the corporation to not submit this proposal to the vote because the corporation responded in a satisfactory manner to what we proposed. We proposed a woman in management breakdown according to executive positions. This is on page 71 of the circular. We are happy with the corporation's response, even though we would have liked more information on all subsidiaries of Power.
We also submitted a proposal related to the language fluency of directors that would be appearing in the information on their skills, the corporation has agreed to disclose this information from next year on. All languages should be included, not only official languages of Canada. This is a proposal we've sent to each corporation where we have a share, you are following in that way, we are thanking you for your response. The third proposal from MÉDAC had to do with upgrading the role of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee so that the board would review the mandate of the Human Resources Committee. You responded that the charter of the committee was revised to include issues of wellness, safety, and mental health of employees. That's what we wanted.
We are happy we have been able to agree on the topics we shared with you this year, and we are looking forward to next year and to follow up of these proposals. Thank you for the time you have given us, and we are happy with your responses. Thank you, Mr. Gagnon. Thank you. We are happy to tell you that even though the proposals are not submitted to vote, we are answering them in our circular, and I would like to thank you once again.
Mark Sylvestre to make a few comments on the shareholder proposals submitted by SHARE. Mr. Sylvestre, you may go ahead.
Thank you. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you well. Thank you very much. Please go ahead.
All right. All right. All right. Thank you for the opportunity to address the Power Corporation's board and shareholders. I am Mark Sylvestre. I'm a Haudenosaunee Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. I'm speaking on behalf of SHARE in my capacity as the general manager for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Community Trust. Let me begin by thanking the CEO and Power Corporation Board of Directors for acknowledging the importance of addressing Indigenous reconciliation, which includes Indigenous community relations, the recruitment advancement of Indigenous employees, internal Indigenous cultural awareness, education, and procurement from Indigenous-owned companies.
We brought these issues to your attention not as something we think is important, and would be nice for you to undertake, but as a shareholder in this company and wanting to see our invested funds prosper along with our fellow shareholders. We believe in investing our First Nations Trust Funds with purpose and in line with the traditional and cultural values of our Mississauga and Anishinaabe beliefs. Our trustees and our community members must be proud of where our funding we generate comes from and how it's derived. These returns help us fund important community programs in the areas of education, health, housing, economic development, and cultural heritage. The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Community Trust is the first indigenous investor in Canada to bring forward a shareholder proposal and actively engage with corporate Canada.
We are gratified that Power Corporation has agreed with our request, the shareholder vote was not necessary. This is a powerful example for this sector and for corporate Canada to be held in high regard for others to follow. Many have asked how Reconciliation Canada can be achieved, it does not happen all at once. Together with actions such as we are celebrating today, we can remove the barriers, work together, and ensure opportunities to share in the growth of the Canadian economy for all. I would like to thank our friends at SHARE, along with the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association, an organization I'm a founding member of, the partnership between NATOA and SHARE, called the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative, for the opportunity to share this time with you today.
I thank you all for the chance to express our appreciation and look forward to the shared prosperity with Power Corporation. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Well, we thank you, Mr. Sylvestre . As mentioned previously, the shareholder proposal is not subject to a shareholder vote, and our response is in the circular, and we thank you very much for your comments in regard to this issue. We will now proceed with the process of completing the voting of the items of business of the meeting. The polls on all items of business will now close. If you have previously submitted a completed proxy, it is not necessary to do so again. A vote made using the ballot will revoke any previously submitted proxy. For those of you who have not voted on all items of business, please do so now. We will now pause briefly to allow you time to vote.
Considering it's a click away, to do it relatively fast, I hope I've people enough time to vote. This would conclude then our voting for today's meeting. The scrutineers have now completed the preliminary voting results, accordingly, I declare the 14 directors nominated and hereby elected. I declare the motion on the appointment of the corporation's auditors to have passed, I declare the motion on the non-binding advisory resolution of the corporation's approach to executive compensation to have passed. A report disclosing the voting results in respect of each applicable item of business will be filed on SEDAR promptly following the meeting, a report on the election of each director will be disclosed in a press release to be issued following the meeting.
As there are no other businesses that may properly come before this meeting, this ends the formal portion of the meeting. Now that the formal part of the meeting has been concluded, we would please to answer any questions that you may have. Mr. Lemay, have there been any questions from shareholders?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We've received, two questions. The first one is from Mr., Willie Gagnon, du MÉDAC. I will read this question in French.
Why is the meeting not held in person and virtually as well? The health measures have been lifted for a while. Not having an in-person meeting is not a good thing. It's not in the spirit of the act. Many hybrid events are possible. Many things are possible when it's in person and not virtually. When can we get back to an in-person meeting? Do we have to turn to the authorities to get satisfaction?
Gagnon, I call it once.
Thank you, Mr. Gagnon. As you know, this is the second time we are meeting in such a virtual way. The reason for this is that we can reach many more people than we can normally in a normal in-person AGM. There are now ways to conduct hybrid meetings. It is possible we look into this for next year to see if it's a better way to reach our shareholders and also if it's also respecting budgetary concerns because the virtual meetings are more economical. It is our AGM of shareholders. It would be pleasant to be able to do something in person, and communications would be different. There are, of course, different issues in both. This is the reason essentially we held a virtual AGM.
there's another question. Is there,
Yes, we've got another question, Mr. Chairman, from Jeff Carlson, which I will read in English. Mr. Carlson is a shareholder and proxy holder. Here's the question. We heard repeated comments today from Mr. Orr related to increasing representation of so-called underrepresented group, sorry, within all levels of the company. How exactly is PowerCorp going to do this while still ensuring that the most qualified and capable people are in those roles? I fully support an inclusive workforce, but not at the expense of hiring or promoting any individuals or groups that are not competent in their respective positions or not capable of fulfilling their duties. Unfortunately, in our quest to appear as inclusive, capabilities and competencies are compromised, and share value is destroyed in the process.
I think I'll let this one to Jeff if you want, because you've heard from me often enough. For my part, I think I'm with you. I think to name people is the wrong way to go about this. We have found that by reaching out and by trying to go further, we actually have found some very competent people that have been able to join our company and really demonstrate value for our shareholders. I think it's a goal that we have to maintain and keep. I don't know, Jeff, if you want to add something because of the subsidiaries or something that you may wanna add something.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would add a few thoughts, and I thank Mr. Carlson for his questions. I think the views expressed about having competence and having capable people on our board, in our management teams, in our employee ranks is always top of mind. We share your philosophy. At the same time, I have no doubt that we will be a stronger company, and it's not just PowerCorp, but through our subsidiaries, when our boards and when our employees and our management have far greater representation and look more like the society and the communities in which we operate. I think that will be very positive for the company and very positive for our ability to attract and hire people from the entire workforce.
The goal is not just to appear positive in front of the local, or I should say the norms and the expectations, but it actually makes sense for business. You'll see we've taken time, at times been criticized for not moving quickly enough. Exactly for the reason that you have in your question, we will not compromise in terms of having the competencies and the right mix as well. It's not just having strong directors, for example. You need to bring a balance from different areas of expertise, different geographies, different areas of our business. All of these things go into the mix, and you need to get there on a journey, not in a hurry, so that you don't compromise the quality. That's what I would say, Mr. Chair, and I, Mr.
Carlson's question was right on.
I'm in total agreement, Thank you very much, Mr. Orr. I guess, Mr. Lemay, unless there are other questions, I would propose to close the assembly and to thank all of the shareholders and all of those attending for having listened to us. Once again, I'd like to excuse ourselves for the computer glitch that went through and that we had to handle here. wanna thank you all for being patient and for listening to this annual meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.