Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Vital Infrastructure Property Trust annual meeting. I will turn the call over to Robert Julien. Please go ahead.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this annual meeting of the unitholders of Vital Infrastructure Property Trust. My name is Robert Julien, and I am the non-executive chair of the board. As an introductory note, we are hosting today's meeting virtually via live audio webcast. We have unitholders attending via the web portal today, and for those who may not be able to attend online, we have encouraged them to vote by using the form of proxy or voting instruction form provided in the proxy materials.
Before we begin the formal proceedings, I would like to introduce the following members of management with us today. Zachary Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee, Mike Brady, President, Stephanie Karamarkovic, Chief Financial Officer, Tracey Whittall, Chief Operating Officer, and Dave Casimiro, Executive Vice President, each of whom is present for today's live webcast.
We are also pleased to have members of our board present for today's webcast. Today, we intend to first proceed with the formal items on the agenda, following which there will be a brief question and answer period during which we will be pleased to respond to your questions. Validated unitholders and proxy holders that are attending the meeting virtually today will be able to submit questions during the meeting and during the Q&A session once the formal business of the meeting is concluded.
Such unitholders and proxyholders may ask questions by selecting the Q&A tab, typing their question in the Ask a Question box on the virtual meeting webpage, which can be found underneath the media player window, and press the Submit button. Though we may not be able to answer every question, we will do our best to respond to as many appropriate questions as possible and will also try to address any appropriate unanswered questions after the meeting out of consideration for others.
Please limit yourself to one or two questions. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. However, no one attending via the webcast is permitted to use a recording device. I now call the meeting to order. With the consent of the meeting, I will act as chair of the meeting, and I will ask Brad Ross from Goodmans to act as secretary and Alicia Mohammed from Broadridge to act as scrutineer. Certain unitholders have been asked to move and second motions relating to the business to be conducted at this meeting.
The secretary has advised me that the notice and access notification for the meeting, together with a form of proxy, have been forwarded to each registered unitholder of record on the record date for the meeting. An electronic copy of the management information circular was available to unitholders online under the REIT's profile on SEDAR+ and on the REIT's website. Hard copies were delivered upon request.
The scrutineer has provided me with a report on attendance. I confirm that the requisite quorum of unitholders is present and that the meeting is properly constituted for the transaction of business. I direct that scrutineer's report on attendance and affidavit of the mailing to be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. The voting polls are now open for all matters to be voted on.
This will allow you to choose to vote on each item of business immediately or wait until each motion has been made prior to casting your vote. Voting will be conducted by online ballot. Any registered unitholder or appointed proxyholder who has not yet voted or wishes to change their vote, please do so using the voting link in the questions/chat pane. Please note that the registered unitholders or appointed proxyholders have the ability to change their votes at any time before the polls close, after all motions have been made and related questions addressed.
Unitholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action. The first item of business for the meeting is the presentation of the financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2025. I would ask that the secretary attach the financial statements and auditor's report as a schedule for the minutes of the meeting. If any unitholder or proxyholder has questions relating to the financial statements, I would request that they be asked during the question and answer period following the formal portion of this.
We will now proceed with our second item of business, the election of the trustees. The proposed nominees for election as trustees of the REIT are Peter Aghar, Graham Garner, Robert Julien, Laura King, David Klein, Karine MacIndoe, Maureen O'Connell, and Zachary Vaughan. If elected, these nominees will hold office until the next annual meeting of unitholders or until their successors are elected or appointed. May I have a motion for the nomination of these eight individuals?
I so move.
Would anyone like to second the motion?
I second the motion.
The board of trustees has adopted what is commonly referred to as a majority voting policy. Under that policy, a trustee is required to tender his or her resignation if he or she receives more withhold votes than votes cast for his or her election. The scrutineer's preliminary report indicates that based on the proxies received by the REIT, each proposed nominee would receive a greater number of votes for his or her election than would be withheld from his or her election.
None of the proposed nominees would be required to tender his or her resignation under the policy. Unless a unitholder or proxyholder requests separate motions to elect the individual nominees, I propose that we proceed with a single motion for the election of all the proposed nominees. May I have a motion for the election of the persons who have been nominated?
I so move.
Would anyone like to second the motion?
I second the motion.
I will now pause a moment to give unitholders an opportunity to raise questions with respect to the election of trustees. Stephanie, have we received any questions?
We have not received any questions with respect to the election of the trustees.
Thank you. If there are no questions, we will move to the next matter to be voted on. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors and the authorization of the trustees to fix their remuneration. The trustees, on the recommendation of the audit committee, propose that Deloitte LLP be appointed as auditor of the REIT until the next annual meeting of the unitholders, or until their successor is duly appointed, and that the trustees be authorized to fix their remuneration. May I have a motion on this matter, please?
I so move.
Would anyone like to second the motion?
I second the motion.
Thank you. If any unitholder or proxyholder has questions related to the appointment of the auditors, I would request they be asked at this time. Stephanie, have you received any questions?
We have not received any questions with respect to the appointment of auditors and the authorization of the trustees to fix their remuneration.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the polls will remain open for a brief moment. Any registered unitholders or appointed proxyholders who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote may take the opportunity to do so through the voting buttons on the web portal. As a reminder, unitholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action.
We will pause a moment for any further voting. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I declare the polls for the 2026 Vital Infrastructure Property Trust Annual Meeting of Unitholders closed. We have been informed that the preliminary vote report shows that each of the proposals presented for the approval today have been duly passed.
I declare that the nominees listed in the management information circular have been duly elected as trustees of the REIT until the next annual meeting of unitholders, or until they resign or their successors are elected or appointed, and that Deloitte LLP has been appointed as the REIT's auditor for the ensuing year. We will be recording the final voting results in a press release and SEDAR+ filing following the meeting.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal part of the meeting. If there is no further business, the meeting is hereby terminated. On behalf of management and the board, I would like to thank you for attending today. Now that the formal part of the meeting has been concluded, we would be pleased to answer any questions that you may have with respect to the REIT, its financial statements and operations during the year. Please submit your questions through the web portal. Thank you. If there are no further questions, I would like to thank everyone for attending this meeting and for your support of the REIT.
This concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.