Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CHPUN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust Annual and Special Meeting of Unitholders. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Galen Weston. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to the 2021 Annual and Special Meeting of Unitholders of Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. I'm Galen Weston, and I serve as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Every year, we look forward to this meeting and the opportunity it provides to speak with our unitholders. Again, this year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown restrictions in place mean that we find ourselves unable to gather in person. While this meeting of unitholders will certainly be different than most previous years, our team has worked to replicate as best we can our regular meeting environment in a virtual format. Joining me this morning via webcast are Rael Diamond, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Mario Barrafato, our Chief Financial Officer; and Doris Baughan, our Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Several other members of Choice Properties' Board of Trustees and senior management team are also attending remotely, either by teleconference or by webcast. It was announced last month that I will be stepping down as Chair of the Board. It's been my pleasure to serve as Chair since 2019, and following the initial public offering of Choice Properties from 2013 to 2017. I'm extremely proud of the progress our team has delivered during my time as your Chair. The value that we created for our unitholders and our rich pipeline of opportunities for future value creation will serve us well. I'm delighted that Gordon Currie is standing for election to the Board, and that the Board intends to appoint him to be Choice Properties' next Chair. Gordon is the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies Limited. Gordon has worked closely with our group of companies over 15 years, and I'm confident that his strategic governance and leadership experience will contribute to the long-term success of Choice Properties. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to my fellow Board members, the dedicated management team and employees of Choice Properties and our unitholders. I'd now like to call to order this Annual and Special Meeting of Unitholders of Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. I will begin today's meeting by outlining how voting and questions will be addressed in this virtual format. Usually, and this year is no exception, the majority of unitholders submit their proxies or voting instructions in advance of the meeting. Under our normal practice, unitholders or their proxies who wish to vote at the meeting will be required to attend the meeting in person. Instead, voting during today's meeting will be conducted through this online platform. When we are ready to table an item of business for a vote, you will see voting options appear on your screen. If you have voted in advance of the meeting and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxies, then you do not need to do anything. Another manner in which the virtual meeting will be different is with respect to questions, which will be accepted through this online platform. To submit a question, click on the Q&A messaging icon at the top of your computer screen. When submitting a question, please identify whether it relates to a motion being considered as part of the formal business of the meeting, or whether it is general in nature. We will address questions directly related to a particular motion at the appropriate time of the meeting and save general questions until after the formal business has been completed. Questions with common themes may be grouped together for efficiency. Doris Baughan, our Corporate Secretary, will read the questions allowed when requested, and either I or a member of the management team will respond. We will make every effort to answer all your questions during today's Q&A period. However, in the interest of time, we will limit that portion of the meeting to 20 minutes, and we'll address any unanswered questions in a timely manner afterwards. Now before we proceed with the formal part of the meeting, I'd like to acknowledge the remarkable efforts of the team of Choice Properties over the last year, in particular, in light of the ongoing pandemic. As a landlord to hundreds of local and regional businesses across Canada, Choice Properties has played an important role in supporting the essential elements of our economy, which continue to operate, as well as those that have faced closure and significant uncertainty since the pandemic began. In the first month of the pandemic, the team quickly put together a program to provide qualifying small businesses and independent tenants who request a relief with a temporary rent deferral. And since then, Choice Properties has also participated in several government support programs. Over the course of 2020 and continuing into this year, they have ensured the safety and security of hundreds of properties, all while ensuring the health and well-being of our colleagues, tenants and their customers. On behalf of the Board and all unitholders, I'd like to thank everyone in the Choice Properties organization for their dedication, resilience and commitment during this challenging time. After more than a year of living amidst the current pandemic, many of us are starting to see hopeful signs that life may soon return to a new normal. That will mean reconnecting with family and friends in person, enjoying dinner at their favorite restaurants and once again coming together at work, shop and play in the ways we've all missed so much. As we do, Choice Properties will continue to support the communities in which we play such an essential role. I'll now proceed with the formal part of the meeting. I would ask Ms. Doris Baughan, the Secretary of Choice Properties, to act as secretary of the meeting. AST Trust Company is acting as scrutineer of the meeting by way of its representatives, Radha Muchan-Singh and Lori Grinton. Only unitholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2021, or their proxies are entitled to take part in and vote at this meeting. To make the best use of our time, certain unitholders have been asked to move and second the proposals, which are called for in the notice of the meeting. A copy of the notice of the meeting and proof of its mailing has been filed with Choice Properties. The scrutineers' report indicates that a quorum is present. I now declare that this Annual and Special Meeting has been properly called and is duly constituted for the transaction of business for which it has been called. Today's agenda will consist of remarks from Choice Properties' President and CEO, Rael Diamond; and CFO, Mario Barrafato. These will be followed by the submission of Choice Properties' 2020 Annual Financial Statements and then 4 items of business: first, to elect the Board of Trustees for next year; second, to appoint the Choice Properties' external auditor for fiscal 2021; and third, to consider an advisory resolution on Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation; and fourth, to vote on various resolutions approving certain amendments to the Choice Properties' Declaration of Trust. Following that, we will have the 20-minute Q&A period I previously mentioned. On behalf of those speaking today, I would like to note that their comments may include forward-looking statements. And unless otherwise noted, they will be referring to non-GAAP financial measures. Details regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures are on stream and can be found in the Choice Properties' Annual Report to Unitholders, as updated in its first quarter 2021 report to unitholders. Actual results could differ materially from the forecast projections and conclusions in the forward-looking statements made today. During the meeting, we may pause from time to time to review messages from the Corporate Secretary as we coordinate from a distance. But thank you for your patience as we do so. At this point in the meeting, I'd like to call upon Rael Diamond, President and CEO; and Mario Barrafato, CFO of Choice Properties, to present an update on the business.

Thank you, Galen. Good morning, everyone. Mario and I are pleased to welcome you to our 2021 Annual Meeting. We always welcome the opportunity to engage directly with you, our unitholders. At this time last year, we hosted our first virtual AGM. Although we hoped it will be a onetime occasion, ongoing social distancing measures have forced us to go virtual once again. By all accounts, 2020 was a challenging year. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the communities where we operate and all our daily lives. From the beginning of the pandemic, the health and safety of our staff and tenants remained our top priority. We always had a clear goal of supporting our tenants, colleagues and other stakeholders. For tenants, they were negatively impacted by the pandemic. We supported them by participating in the Government of Canada's CECRA program, which provided rent relief of up to 75% for eligible tenants. For impacted tenants that did not qualify, we entered into rent deferral or abatement arrangements to provide support. Many of our tenants provide essential services, including grocery and pharmacy, so we rolled out additional security, social distancing and sanitization measures at each of our properties to ensure the safety of our tenants, their employees and their customers. We put in place an infrastructure that allowed for an easy transition so employees could work from home. We continue to follow guidance from public health and, when appropriate, have prepared for our offices to reopen with proper social distancing measures in place. None of these efforts would have been successful without the hard work and determination of our employees. I want to thank them for going above and beyond for their fellow coworkers, our tenants and all other stakeholders. Again, thank you. While there were many short-term issues that demanded attention in 2020, they did not stop us from doing what we do best, creating enduring value for our unitholders, with a focus on 3 key goals: first, preserving our capital; second, generating stable and growing cash flow; and finally, creating long-term net asset value appreciation. We do this by owning, managing and developing high-quality assets. As Canada's largest REIT, we have an exceptional portfolio of over 700 income-producing properties, totaling 66 million square feet of gross leasable area. Our existing portfolio is backed by an operating platform with a proven track record of success, with a focus on providing our tenants with best-in-class service. Our property operations team is always working hard to improve our tenant service program, and we strive to understand the needs of our tenants and manage our assets to the highest possible standards. In addition to our stable portfolio, we have both an active development program and a pipeline of transformational opportunities. Development provides us with excellent opportunities to add high-quality assets to our portfolio and represents one of the best prospects to create long-term value. Our existing portfolio and our development program is supported by a strong balance sheet, financial flexibility and disciplined financial management. The combination of stability and growth provides us with the foundation to deliver on our goals of a long-term investment horizon. For us, stability means preservation of your capital investment and the reliability of your monthly distribution. And growth means distribution and net asset value growth over time.

When you look at our portfolio, you'll note 2 distinct features. First is quality. We are committed to owning, acquiring and building high-quality real estate. And second is diversification. We manage risk by owning properties across multiple geographies and asset classes. These 2 features enable us to deliver that stability and growth that is critical to you as an investor. Our retail portfolio is one of the largest and best-performing in the REIT industry. It makes up 80% of our total portfolio and is primarily focused on grocery-anchored properties with necessity-based tenants. This type of retail has historically been less sensitive to economic volatility, and this became even more apparent during this pandemic. Over the last 12 months, our retail portfolio has proven to be resilient. Relative to many of our peers, we achieved higher cash collections and generated more stable financial results. It also became evident that a grocery-anchored property with a long-term lease from an investment-grade tenant, such as Loblaw, is one of the most valuable properties in the industry. Beyond retail, we also own industrial, office and residential properties in Canada's largest markets. This kind of diversification enables us to reduce risk, stabilize cash flows and expand our investment opportunities. The industrial asset class has been one of the fastest-growing in recent years, and COVID further accelerated this trend, making industrial the strongest performing asset class. As our portfolio is comprised of high-quality distribution centers located in Canada's most critical distribution markets, we are strategically positioned to take advantage of the next phase of e-commerce growth. In contrast to the industrial portfolio, COVID is having an impact on some of our office properties. Leasing activity has been slow as most office tenants are still working from home, and understandably being patient with their space decisions. That being said, as more of us get vaccinated and the economy reopens, we strongly believe that tenants will return to the office for the engagement and collaboration that has been the foundation of workplace culture. And finally, our residential strategy is on track to become a meaningful asset class within Choice. Over the next few years, we'll complete several buildings currently under construction as well as advance the pipeline to build new rental buildings for many years to come.

At Choice, we invest in properties for the long term. At the same time, we are continually reevaluating our assets and look for ways to improve the overall quality of the portfolio. We do this by maintaining an active capital recycling program. Capital recycling is where we take the proceeds from property sales, and we invest them into assets that are either higher quality or higher growth. We achieved this by buying new properties or developing current ones. Despite a freeze in investment markets due to COVID in early 2020, we were the most active REIT in terms of capital recycling. We completed over $1 billion of transactions during the year, including $500 million of dispositions, and reinvested these proceeds into new properties. The majority of the dispositions were retail assets totaling $430 million. This activity shows this high demand for strong grocery-anchored retail properties. As unitholders, you'll be pleased to hear that the assets were sold at pricing above our IFRS values, which, again, points to strong interest from institutional investors. We recycled all of this capital into new acquisitions, including the acquisition of the Weston Centre located in Midtown, Toronto. The Weston Centre is a multi-tenant office and retail property that is not only home to Choice's new head office, but also includes a Loblaw grocery store. We also acquired the remaining ownership interest in our West Block development, which Mario will speak about in a moment. Finally, we grew our industrial platform by $170 million, by adding 1 million square feet of highly sought-after assets. It is rare to acquire well-located urban assets like the Western Centre and West Block and high-quality industrial product, and we are thrilled to add these assets to our portfolio. These transactions reflect our ongoing commitment to improve the quality of our portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet.

It's not just transactions that are keeping us busy, our development program provides us with exceptional opportunities to add high-quality real estate to our portfolio. 2020 was a significant year as we completed our first mixed-use development, the West Block. Our West Block development is a mixed-use project in downtown Toronto. With a combined investment of more than $400 million, the development includes 2 condo towers, with approximately 850 residential units. Choice owns all the commercial space, including a new grocery store with office space above. The development repurposed the historic Loblaw Groceterias Warehouse that was originally built in 1928. And it was rebuilt brick-by-brick, with each stone replaced in the same original location. On the residential side of the business, we continue to expand our purpose-built rental portfolio and expect construction on 2 of our current projects in downtown Toronto to be completed this year. We also recently started construction on 2 new residential projects, one is a transit-oriented site in the GTA and the other is in the trendy and lively Westboro neighborhood in Ottawa. And finally, we are very excited about our most recent acquisition, 300 net acres of industrial development landed in GTA. The GTA is one of the strongest industrial markets in North America as demand continues to exceed supply. And our current development plan envisions a multiphase industrial park, with the potential for approximately 5 million square feet of new-generation industrial space, potentially doubling our current industrial footprint in the GTA. This development represents a transformational opportunity for us to grow and add value to our industrial platform. With these examples, you can see that development is having an impact on our business. In the last 3 years alone, we've completed over 65 projects and delivered more than $600 million of new retail, industrial and residential projects to our portfolio and driving considerable value for our unitholders.

Beyond our current development program, we have an exciting pipeline of future opportunities that will transform the urban landscape. Many of these properties are close to public transportation, and over time, our plan is to add density and turn them into mixed-use residential communities that are livable and vibrant for future generations. It's best to explain the potential by using an example. We have long recognized the importance of Golden Mile as an opportunity to make a significant impact, not just within our 19-acre site, that's on the entire area. Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT provides an exciting opportunity to transform our existing shopping center into a mixed-use, mixed-income, multigenerational, transit-oriented community. At Golden Mile, we have an opportunity and responsibility to create positive change, and that is exactly what we are aspiring to do with this transformational development. Our goal is to positively influence the entire neighborhood for generations and create a vibrant new gateway to the Golden Mile area. Earlier this year, we announced the first phase of the redevelopment, which will include 2 condominium towers, a rental building, community uses, a pedestrian mews as well as retail and office space. This kind of redevelopment represents a significant competitive advantage for Choice, and one of our greatest opportunities to create long-term value for unitholders.

When it comes to financial management, we have one of the best balance sheets in the industry. We are proud of what we have achieved over the past few years as we've been focused on lowering our debt levels, improving our liquidity and refinancing our debt for terms from 7 up to 30 years. And in 2020, to further strengthen our financial position, we accessed the debt markets to raise over $1 billion. These funds were used to repay all amounts drawn on our credit facilities and refinance all near-term debts coming due. Our vision was to create financial flexibility that would allow us to navigate through challenging times without disrupting our operations or investment strategies or cutting your monthly distribution. And this vision was both tested and proven over the last 12 months. And in September, our efforts were acknowledged, with a credit rating upgrade from DBRS. As well, our investors showed their confidence throughout the year, with our unit price trading at near pre-COVID levels. Two years ago, we launched our first ESG Report. We did so as we felt that committing to work in a sustainable manner was the right and responsible thing to do. And it also fit naturally with our goal of long-term value creation. Since that time, we've advanced our commitment to improving our environmental footprint, getting back to our communities and integrating ESG into our culture. We are proud of the progress we've made and recognize there is much more we need to do. We recently released our third ESG Report that highlights some of the improvements we've made. And they include the reduction of waste, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, the construction of Choice's first, geothermal heating and cooling system, which is expected to reduce property carbon emissions by over 50%. Further, we advanced our diversity, equity and inclusion program. This included the completion of expert-led training to our entire team on unconscious bias, and the establishment of diversity targets relating to gender identity and visible minority representation. And we were honored that we were one of only 11 North American companies specifically noted by GRESB for our substantial improvement in the real estate sustainability benchmark. So looking ahead, we'll be increasing our efforts to support a low-carbon economy, to build more sustainable communities and to improve equity, diversity and wellness in our workplace. We look forward to sharing more in next year's ESG Report.

We're very proud of our accomplishments in 2020, and we are confident that the strategic and operating decisions we have made position us well for the future. Although last year was challenging, our key objective remains unchanged, build our real estate business to deliver both stability and growth to the investor over a long-term horizon. So how do we intend to do this? First, we've built a strong and talented team. As I said earlier, I'm proud of our employees. Time and time again, they've shown resiliency and a desire to go above and beyond to help their coworkers and our tenants. Second, we own a high-quality, diversified real estate portfolio that will continue to improve over time with our capital recycling and development programs. Next, our balance sheet. We have one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry, with ample liquidity providing us financial flexibility for future opportunities. And finally, our strategic relationship with our major tenant and the sponsorship of our major unitholder. Loblaw is our largest tenant and a true anchor to our portfolio. Our relationship is strong and will continue to create ongoing opportunities for us. George Weston is our largest unitholder and is committed to supporting us as a long-term owner, manager and developer of high-quality, diversified real estate portfolio. Both of these relationships will continue to provide stability and growth for Choice. I'd like to close by thanking you, our unitholders, for your support, past and present. This meeting is meant to show you the confidence and enthusiasm we have across our business. And although we expect things will continue to evolve, I know we are up to the challenge. Thank you. I would like to welcome Galen back to address the meeting.

Thank you, Rael and Mario. Your leadership during the pandemic has been truly impressive. Along with your team, you continue to ensure that our tenants can count on us, and that the business continues to be thoughtfully managed throughout. The strong position in which Choice Properties finds itself amidst these challenging times is a reflection not only of those actions, but also the strategy that you and your team have been disciplined in pursuing during recent years. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to share my appreciation for all of your efforts. I'd now like to move to the first item of business and submit the audited consolidated financial statements of Choice Properties, together with the notes of the auditor's report to unitholders for the year ended December 31, 2020. These are included in the annual report, which was provided to unitholders and can also be retrieved from the Financial Reports section of Choice Properties' website or SEDAR. First, were there any questions or comments submitted in connection with the financial statements?

No, Galen, we have not received any questions related to this item.

Thank you, Doris. So we'll now move to the nomination and election of Trustees. A strong governance structure starts with the Board of Trustees. The Trustees are responsible for supervising Choice Properties management on behalf of the unitholders. Our Board is committed to high standards of accountability, integrity and ethics, and believes that these hallmarks of good governance are fundamental to our success and to safeguarding the long-term interest of our shareholders. Our Board plays an important role in overseeing the Choice Properties strategy, risk management processes and leadership development. The Board also carries out several important duties directly and through its committees, including evaluating Choice Properties' internal controls over financial reporting and overseeing executive compensation and succession planning. This Board is well-qualified to carry out its mandate with extensive leadership experience and strong strategic acumen. Those traits are complemented by further qualifications and expertise in real estate, risk management, finance and strategy. Our management proxy circular contains detailed biographies, setting out valuable qualifications and diverse backgrounds of the trustee nominees proposed. Nine Trustees are to be elected. I'm pleased to report that based on proxies received by the scrutineer in advance of the meeting, each trustee nominee received votes in favor from at least 98% of votes cast. We will now consider the election of Trustees. To facilitate the introduction of the nominees, we refer you to the slide on the webcast. I declare the polls open on all resolutions. Doris, were there any questions or comments submitted in connection with the nomination and election of Trustees?

No, Galen, we have not received any questions or comments related to this item.

Thank you. As mentioned, I've taken the liberty of asking certain unitholders to make the motions for the election of Trustees and other motions today. Could I please have a nomination for the election of Trustees?

My name is Lisa Kosowicz, and I'm a unitholder. Mr. Chairman, I nominate the following persons for election as Trustees of Choice Properties, to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Unitholders or until their successors are duly elected or appointed: Kerry D. Adams; Christie J.B. Clark; L. Jay Cross; Gordon A.M. Currie; Graeme M. Eadie; Karen Kinsley; R. Michael Latimer; Nancy H.O. Lockhart; Dale R. Ponder.

My name is Patricia Rafiq, and I am a unitholder. Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. Choice Properties' Declaration of Trust requires that nominations of Trustees by unitholders be received by the Trustees at least 30 days in advance of the meeting in order to be valid. As no further nominations were received prior to the deadline, the nominations are closed. As there are no further nominations, I call on Lisa to move that the nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I move that nominations be closed.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. You have now heard the motion, and I'll ask unitholders or their appointees to cast their votes through the online portal. As a reminder, if you have already voted or sent in your proxy, there's no need to do anything, unless you wish to change your vote. [Voting]

Thank you for casting your votes. The scrutineers will tabulate the votes cast, and we will report on the results towards the end of the meeting. We'll now move to the appointment of the auditor, the next item of business. Doris, were there any questions or comments submitted in connection with the appointment of the auditor?

No, Galen, we have not received any questions related to this item.

Thank you. I will now entertain a motion for the reappointment of the auditor of Choice Properties and the authorization of the Trustees to fix the auditor's remuneration.

Mr. Chairman, I move that KPMG LLP Chartered Professional Accountants be reappointed auditors of Choice Properties until the next Annual Meeting of Unitholders of Choice Properties, and that the Trustees be authorized to fix the auditor's remuneration for the 2021 fiscal year.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. You've now heard the motion. If you've not already done so, I will ask unitholders or their appointees to cast their votes through the online portal. [Voting]

Thank you for casting your votes. The scrutineers will tabulate the votes cast, and we will report on the results towards the end of the meeting. The next item of business is the advisory resolution regarding Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation. The resolution is more fully described on Page 18 of Choice Properties' Management Proxy Circular. Doris, were there any questions or comments submitted in connection with this matter?

No, Galen, we have not received any questions or comments related to this matter.

Thank you. I'll now entertain a motion to approve on an advisory basis Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the advisory resolution regarding Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation, as more fully described on Page 18 of the Management Proxy Circular, be approved.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. You've heard the motion. If you have not already done so, I will ask unitholders for their -- or their appointees to cast their votes through the online portal. [Voting]

Thank you for casting your votes. The scrutineers will tabulate the votes cast, and we will report on the results towards the end of the meeting. The last item of business is the approval of the Amendment to the Declaration of Trust. Unitholders are being asked to consider and, if thought advisable, to pass 5 separate resolutions authorizing and approving certain Amendments to the Declaration of Trust, as described on Pages 19 and 20 of the Management Proxy Circular. The 5 resolutions are set out in Schedules B to F of the Management Proxy Circular and include: amendments to the investment guidelines of Choice Properties, as set out in Schedule B; amendments to the operating policies of Choice Properties, as set out in Schedule C; amendments with respect to the declaration of noncash distributions payable by insurance -- issuance of trust units and the automatic consolidation of trust units immediately thereafter, as set out in Schedule D of the Management Proxy Circular; amendments with respect to unitholder meeting matters, as set out in Schedule E; and amendments with respect to various general housekeeping matters, as set out in Schedule F of the Management Proxy Circular. In order for the particular resolution set out in Schedules B to F, each resolution requires the approval of a majority of the votes cast, while the resolutions relating to the amendments to Choice Properties' investment guidelines and operating policies set out in B and C require approval of at least 2/3 of the votes cast. I'm pleased to report that based on proxies received by the scrutineer in advance of the meeting, each resolution received votes in favor from at least 99% of votes cast. Doris, were there any questions or comments submitted in connection with this matter?

No, Galen, we have not received any questions or comments related to this item.

Thank you, Doris. I will now entertain a motion for the Amendments to the Declaration of Trust, as described in the resolution set out in Schedules B to F of the Management Proxy Circular.

Mr. Chairman, I move that each of the proposed Amendment to the Declaration of Trust, as set forth in the resolutions set out in Schedules B to F of the Management Proxy Circular, be approved.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

You've heard the motion. If you have not already done so, I'll ask unitholders or their appointees to cast their votes on each of the 5 resolutions in respect to the Amendments to the Declaration of Trust through the online portal. [Voting]

Thank you for casting your votes. Scrutineers will tabulate the votes cast, and we will report back at the end of the meeting. This brings us to the end of the voting on items of business before this meeting, and I therefore declare the polls closed. We'll now move to the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. To submit a question, click on the Q&A messaging icon at the top of your computer screen. As I mentioned earlier, we will make every effort to answer all questions. However, in the interest of time, we'll limit the question-and-answer period to 20 minutes. Any unanswered questions will be addressed after the meeting by members of our management team. Questions with common themes may be grouped together for efficiency.

Doris, are there any questions?

Galen, we have no questions.

Okay. Now if there are no questions, then I'm going to move to the next section of the meeting, which is reporting on the voting results. We have now received the voting results by the scrutineer on the 4 items of business. On the election of Trustees, the voting results show that each Trustee nominee received votes in favor from at least 98% of the votes cast. Accordingly, I declare that the proposed Trustee nominees have been duly elected as Trustees of Choice Properties, to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Unitholders or until they resign or their successors are duly elected or appointed. On the appointment of auditors, the voting results show that approximately 99% of the votes cast were in favor of the reappointment of KPMG LLP Chartered Professional Accountants as the auditors of Choice Properties. I declare that KPMG LLP Chartered Professional Accountants are reappointed auditors of the Choice -- of Choice Properties, and that the Trustees are authorized to fix the auditor's remuneration. On the advisory vote on Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation, approximately 93% of the votes cast were voted in favor of Choice Properties' approach to executive compensation. I declare this motion passed. On the Amendments to the Declaration of Trust, the voting results show that each resolution received votes in favor from at least 99% of votes cast. Accordingly, I declare that the proposed Amendments to the Declaration of Trust be passed. The final voting results will be available after the meeting and posted to Choice Properties' SEDAR profile. So before requesting a motion to terminate the meeting, I wanted to reiterate the sentiments shared by Rael and Mario. Choice Properties showed remarkable stability during a turbulent year due to the long-term strategic decisions taken by the company. As a Board, we're optimistic about our future and look forward to a post-pandemic world, where we are confident Choice Properties will continue to prosper. As there is no further business, can I have a motion to terminate the meeting?

Mr. Chairman, I move that the meeting terminate.

Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

Thank you. I now declare the meeting terminated. On behalf of Choice Properties, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to join us online or over the telephone. Thank you very much.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.