Good morning, everyone. We are. About to start our second
meeting of the one joint investor board this year. And
before we get to the begin, I want to introduce
our new board member, Nickel Pinkfall, where's Nicholas? He's right
there. It's been called Mr. Commissioner of Finance and Regional
Treasurer at the Recomicity of Durham. So welcome. Thank you
for being a member of the Board. We're looking forward
to working with you. Thank you very much. And also
we have an intern with us. Andrea, I don't know
injury's last name, but Andy is over here. So you
might find a moment during our breaks and lunch to
say hello to Nicole and to Andrea. Gonna start with
Atlantic acknowledgement, as we always do. We recognize that our
work has the one joint investment board and the work
of municipalities take place on traditional indigenous territories across Ontario.
We recognize and we respect the history languages and cultures
of the First Nations, matey Inuit and all indigenous peoples
whose presence continues to enrich all of our communities across
Ontario. Are there any members of one jib who have
a conflict to declare due to a monetary interest on
any item on today's agenda. Looking around, I see none.
So I think we will continue. We're on to item
three on your agendas, minutes of the previous meeting. So
could I have a motive of February 26, 2026 when
Jiv meeting be approved at circulated. Board member, Fraser makes
that motion. All in favor, please raise your hands. Any
opposed. That carries. I should say also, I think board
member Dowdi is joining us by phone. So you don't
see her on the screen. But I think she is
attending. Is there any business arising from the minutes of
the February 26. Meeting. Seeing any will carry on. So
now we're on communication. So we have before us the
2025, 2026 annual report of the integrity commissioner from John
Mascarin, who's our very commissioner. And I'm happy to note
that our integrity commissioner once again is indicated there are
minimal activities to report this year. He's also stated that
during his six years as integrity committee, sure, they have
not received any complaints for investigation under the code of
conduct or applications for inquiries under the municipal conflict of
interest act. So that is very good. It means that
board members are behaving. In a respectful way. And with
integrity. So that is great. Any discussion on the report
from the Integrity Commissioner. Not seeing any people are comfortable.
All right. Then could I have a motion to receive
the 2025, 2026 annual report of the Integrity Commissioner. And
also thank Mr. Masker and for his services. Board member
really makes that motion. I'll in favor, please raise your
hands. Any pose. That carries. No committee reports today. We
do have some delegations. So we're on item six on
your agenda. Two delegations today. The municipality of Lampton Shores
and the town of Nutic Techumseth have indicated their wish
to join us as participating municipalities. So we're going to
hear from Lamped Insurance first and then new to Kamsith.
Rebecca Clothier, Director of Financial Services. We'll be making the
presentation on behalf of Lampton Shores. She'll tell us about
some of the interesting facts and financial challenges that Lampton
chores is dealing with. So can we let Ms. Clovey
are into the meeting, please?
There we are. Welcome. Ms. Claudier, thank you for being
with us today. We're very much looking forward to hearing
from you. We're glad that Lampton Shores wants to join
the one joint investor board. To your presentation. So I'll
turn the floor over to you. Great. Thank you. So
good morning and thank you for the opportunity to spend
a few minutes introducing you to lamped and shores. My
name is Rebecca Claudier and I'm the director of financial
services. My goal today is to give you a quick
sense of who we are, where we are and what
makes our municipality unique. I'll keep it brief, but I
hope by the end that you'll have a real feel
for who lamped inshores really is. Lampton Shores is located
in the northeast Lampton County at along the beautiful shores
of Lake Huron. I often describe it as the gem
of Flampton County with our stunning lake here on sunsets,
our vibrant small towns and our rich agricultural roots. One
of our biggest strengths is our location. We're close enough
to large centers like Sarnia and London to be connected,
but we still offer many of the benefits of smaller
communities, the rural landscapes, and waterfront living. I also want
to recognize that the chippewas of kettle and stony point
First nations are located within the Lampton Shores area and
are important neighbors and partners and form part of the
identity of our region. Lampton shores is also a growing
community. This slide shows an estimated 2026 population of just
over 13, 000 people that is spread out across, uh,
just over 300 square kilometers. Our growth reflects the appeal
of the area. People are drawn here for the natural
amenities, the quality of life, the smaller community feel, and
the ability to stay connected with larger regional centers. Our
age profile is also important. We serve families working age
residents and a significant older adult population. So when we
plan services, we're thinking about recreation roads, health access, housing
accessibility and community connection. Lampton shores is not a one
- center municipality where a collection of communities and each
one brings something different to the overall identity of the
municipality. Grand bend is probably the best known with its
beaches, restaurants, events, and world - class sunsets. Forest is
our largest town and an important service and commercial hub
to the greater community. Then vered is home to our
municipal office and has strong rural roots. Arcona is known
for the rock glen conservation area and its fossil history.
Port Frank's offers acquired her waterfront and Marina setting at
the mouth of the Assauble River. And Iperwash is a
residential beach community with a long lake here on shoreline.
Together, these communities give lamped inshores a lot of depth.
We are rule, waterfront, residential, commercial, and tourism focused all
at the same time. Tourism is one of the most
important parts of our local economy and community identity. In
the summer months, our population grows significantly as visitors, seasonal
residents, campers, and cottagers come to the area. What makes
Lampton Shore special is that the draw is not just
one attraction. It is the grand - bend beach, the
provincial, uh, the pinary provincial park, Epperwash and Itch Beach,
Port Franks and its beach. The rock Glenn Conservation Area,
local trails, arts and cultural, farmers markets, restaurants, theaters, and
many community events. That visitor economy supports local businesses and
jobs, but it also means that municipality has to plan
carefully. Parking, washrooms, beaches, parks, bylaw services, emergency planning, roads,
waste collection and customer service all become much more complex
during this peak season. Graham Ben Beach parking generates over
a million dollars in just the summer months, which helps
us pay for a lot of the tourism related features
at the beach.
One of the things we're special, we are especially proud
of is our blue flag status. Graham Ben Beach, Graham
Ben Marina and the Port Franks Marina have all been
recognized under the blue flag program. The blue flag is
an international eco - certification. So it's more than a
nice symbol on a flag. It means that the site
must meet standards for water quality, environmental education, environmental management,
safety and services. For residents and visitors, that means clean
water, accessible facilities, safety standards, and a strong focus on
protecting the shoreline and ecosystem. For the municipality, it is
a reminder that our natural assets are also our responsibilities.
We want people to enjoy Lake Huron, but we also
need to manage those spaces carefully and sustainably. When people
think of Lampton Shores, they often think of beaches and
tourism first, but agriculture is just as important to our
identity. We have productive farmland, greenhouse operations, orchards, farm markets,
and specialty crops that contribute to the character and strength
of our local community. The bog areas near Graham Bend,
Bazengquit, and Thedford support specialty crops such as potatoes, celery,
and cooking onions, along with traditional field crops, such as
corn, soya beans, and winter wheat. Looking more broadly at
lampton county, agriculture and agri - businesses are a major
part of our economic sector. In 2021, Lampton County had
more than 2, 100 farms and over 550, 000 acres
operated by farmers. With almost 730 million dollars in agricultural
sales. Lampton County is also significant producer, soya beans, wheat,
and sugar beets. So when we talk about lampton shores,
we're not only talking about the shoreline and visitors were
also talking about productive farmland, agricultural history, local food, and
a rural economy that continues to shape who we are.
So thank you for this opportunity. And if you've had
any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Questions. Uh,
comment actually. Thank you for that presentation, Rebecca. It was
good. I just wanted to share with you that before
I knew that Lampton Shores was joining the one. I
had, um, booked a trip with my outdoor club to
the pioneering. So we're going in June for, uh, five
days in the pinery. And then when I read the
presentation, I thought, you know what, we're going to stay
another few days and check out the area. So I
just thought I'd share that with you. I'm so happy
to hear that. And you will absolutely love your time
at the pioneery. It is a beautiful provincial park. One
other municipal Scott that Rebecca shared with us. And I
think you might find interesting is their employment numbers double
in the summer. They have to hire, they hire significant
students mostly in the parking department to manage the tourism.
But, uh, so the stops, he's a significant increase straight
in the summer months. Yes, that's correct. We have 51
full time staff members on a regular basis, which, um,
escalates to 100 in the summer. So between lifeguards, uh,
harbor attendance, beach cleaners, gardeners and everything else that's associated
with, uh, managing all the tourism. Board member. Oh, yes.
Uh, thank you. Um, Rebecca, I wonder if you could,
um, say a few words about what you think are
the most significant financial challenges facing your municipality, let's say
over the next term of council. Well, uh, over the
next term of council, um, I think that they're going
to have to, uh, look at the assets that we
have and the, the funding gap that we have for
the future replacement of those assets. Um, that's one of
the reasons why we are joining, um, one investment with
our investments. So similar to many other municipalities in the
province, we need to raise additional funds to ensure that
we have the funding necessary to the replace our assets,
uh, when they come do. I think it's also going
to be necessary to reevaluate, uh, some of our services,
uh, as I mentioned, Lampton shores has a number of
municipalities and what that means is that we are the
formation, uh, we were formed by the combination of five
municipalities into one. So, you know, as, as time goes
on, uh, it is necessary to reevaluate some of those
services like five fire departments and look at ways of
streamlining costs in order to ensure that we have that
sustainability. Um, managing the tourism of course and all the
assets that are associated with that ensuring user fees, uh,
that are in place such as the parking that I
referred to our sufficient, to, um, to cover the costs
of providing those extra services. Uh, we don't want the
cost of, of tourism to fall on our rate pairs
because it's something that they wouldn't be able to bear.
It's about being able to collect those costs, uh, from
the residents that come with us. Um, also at our
last council meeting, council has decided to build a new
community center in grand binds. So finding, uh, funding for
that is also going to be, uh, a priority for
the next council when they come in. Great. Thank you.
Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Any
other questions or comments. The only comment I would offer
is a side commit is some, um, lamped inshores. It's
great for bird watching too. And we're going to is
that way you're going? Partly. All right. Then, uh. Could
I have a motion to receive the presentation from his
clothing or on behalf of the municipality of Lampton shores.
Let's see. Remember when right van Kessel makes a motion
all in favor, please raise your hands. Any of those.
So, uh, thank you for joining us today. You are
more than welcome to stay. There are two more items
on the agenda that are related to land and shores
and will consider them shortly after we hear from the
town of newed to Kamsa. So I don't know what
your schedule's like, but if you want to stay, you're
welcome. That's great. Thank you very much. All right. Now
we have Allison Gallant. And, um, then you got that.
From the municipality of new to Comsa talking with some
of the comfort characteristics and financial challenges. So can we
please let them into the.
Okay. Okay. Well, we will continue on then. And we'll
come back to them. So we have a report. Do
we have any ETA. Okay. Well, we, we have kind
of do another report. I think. So let's move on
to item seven on your agenda. And our first report
is the request from Lampton Shores front of young Georgina
and newed to Kamsa to join the one joint investment
board. Any questions on this report. Any discussion. Comfortable.
So, uh, could I have a motion that the board
accept the municipality doors, the township of front of young,
the town of Georgina. And the town of newed to
Kamsat has participated in municipalities with one jib. And number
two in this motion authorized the chair and board secretary
to execute the one Jib agreements on behalf of one
jib with the municipality of Lampton chores. The township up
front of Young, the town of Georgina and the town
of new to Kamsa. Board member Giles makes that motion.
I'll in favor. Please raise your hands. Any opposed. That
carries. Great. So. Yeah. She's here. Okay. We'll do another
one. We'll just keep going. We've got a lot on
our agenda. So we might as well just keep. It.
Oh, they're here. Okay. Great. So they both here. Okay.
Anyone else joining us. Sorry. I was going to say,
I think I met for new tech. Okay. Great. Well,
welcome. I'll let you introduce yourself because I can't see
a name on the screen. It's probably bad. You're not
my part. But. Is it tenure? Okay. So, um, welcome,
Ms. Cadet. Glad to see you here. And we're looking
forward to hearing about new to compass. So, um, over
to you. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. We're
happy to be here speaking on behalf of my team
here. Thanks for having us. So just a quick presentation
about who we are. You take home cis. So our
main communities are the towns of Alistair in Tottenham. We
do have a large rural network as well. Sorry. I
was still speaking to the cover page, but we're all
good. Um, we were amalgamated in 1991 from several smaller
communities, uh, unfortunately there was already a town of Ticumsis.
So we chose new to commsis, which has been just
as confusing. We get their mail, they get ours. We
consider ourselves to be small town charm with vibrant rural
urban lifestyle. You'll see throughout this presentation that we are
poised for growth, uh, largely do in part two, our
location and proximity to the GTA and the greater Toronto
horseshoe area. Currently as of the last census, we were
about 44, 000 residents, uh, the growth plan that's currently
before our council does see us grow into about 80,
000 people by 2051. With that said, the province did,
uh, ask us to hold off on our quotes plan.
And while they've recently approved it still at around 80,
81, 000 people, they have identified different areas than we
would have envisioned for ourselves in terms of growth, which
is going to start to connect those rural areas that
I was talking about. Because a lot of that development
is actually in between the communities as opposed to neuron,
largest center, which is Alistair. In addition, you'll hear throughout
this presentation that they have suggested there should be additional
growth. And so there's some, some large numbers coming at
us. We consider ourselves strategically located. We're about an hour
north of Toronto. We are very close to hiring 400
pardon me. And the soon to be constructed Bradford bypass,
which is going to be a little bit south of
here, but nonetheless, we'll bring a lot of traffic. Simpler
access, if you will, then the eastern part of the
province. We're considered a major employment hub for our area
in Cinical County. We have about 2, 500 businesses and
21, 000 droughts. Uh, the census indicated there's a strong
quality of life here. It's an affordable place to live
or at least it's still somewhat affordable. Uh, and we're
known for our safety record. It's also a very passionate
town. There's a lot of long - term residents. At
least still see a lot of those grassroots festivals that
are occurring year over year. There's a lot of engagement
by the public, um, volunteerism. And we have a large
cultural aspect as well. It's real sea on the following
slide with some significant, uh, folks having come out in
this area. Next slide, please. So a bit of a
community snapshot about us. I will read it to you.
Obviously you guys can read yourselves, but we are about
90, 000 dollars in terms of a median house field
income. What you can see on the chart on the
right, puts us in a pretty strategic position for relative
to other populations per se comparative to us. Uh, we
do have. You'll see 30 percent of our house. So
we do expect to see that rise of course as
the cost of housing continues to increase, but we're also
hoping that some of those pressures can be relieved with
some of the growth that we have coming. In the
2021 census, we were actually seventh in Canada in terms
of population growth. And we do actually project that that
is going to continue. We are dealing with again, some
growth directives from the province. We're currently dealing with some
constraints. As there are many municipalities in terms of how
to, uh, fund that infrastructure with a long - term,
we need some additional capacity in water and some of
the things that we have to work out, but we'll
get there. Next slide, please. Number 65 percent of our
labor force lives outside of need to come site, although
we are considered a strong employment hub. We are surrounded
by some fairly rural communities. And so we do actually
see where a lot of our Lego force, uh, does
have to come in. We also have some very technical
businesses. So the very large hand out of water plant
here, uh, and, you know, to get the skilled trades
that they need, some of those folks do have to
come in right now from outside of me to come
to one of the things we are hoping for. And
we're trying to contract skilled trade center here to town
so that we can actually grow some of those and
employees with paranopali that would then work in our local
businesses. We have a large trans candidate trail about almost
27 kilometers of that. Again, large parkland coverage as well.
Their top languages other than English here in our community
of cinch Italian and Spanish Portuguese. I mentioned earlier there's
a lot of Rashford's festivals that continue year over year.
And there's always new ones coming up as well. There's
a large focus right now on recreation in our community,
but we already have just over 2000 recreation registrants. We
have a lot actually registrants from, uh, neighboring municipalities as
well since, as I mentioned, we are one of the
larger centers in Simple County. And we have a large
drop in participants. So 30, over 30, 000 people dropping
in nearly for our programs. Uh, talked about it a
little bit earlier. Something we'll noticeable things notable things about
us. So Alice is known as the potato capital. We
do annually have our potato vestibule every year. Beaten our
other community is home to the honey and garden festival
and that stems largely from DA Jones, a residence who
was known as the king of Canada and brought, uh,
be keeping to the area. We are also the birthplace
of the surf projects, or Frederick painting, uh, who co
- discovered insulin and want to win an Nobel prize
for that. So we have a large heritage, bending heritage
site here, which was donated by the family, which we
are just about to take over operations. So we've already
owned it, but we're now going to actually assume operation
as well. That was, uh, contracted a previously. Next slide.
Thank you. So from 2021, uh, back, you can see
that there has been gross. However, not to the extent
that we're projected. So we had an initial housing growth
of 6, 400. We needed 64 additional bones. Uh, as
requested by the province, we're now actually seeing a much
bigger figure, particularly if their projects of interest. So in
addition to the 80, 500 people that we ourselves envisioned,
we would grow to in order to meet that housing
target. The province has also identified within single candidate 32
additional projects. 10 of which they said are very important.
Uh, and six of those are either in new to
come sit or right on the border. Well, they haven't
given population figures with that additional, those additional 10 projects
looking at our average household occupancy. That would be a
very CS growing to a bit 150, 000 people in
2051. So in the official plan, so the 80, 590
population, we do need an additional 498. Hectors for community
lands and 173 fund plant. And we would see ourselves
employing approximately 31, 000 people by 2051, which is very
large compared to the number eSA on a year. Slide.
So as I mentioned, they do have 10 other projects,
32 really, but 10 that they've narrowed down and said
are very important and that they're actually currently seeking public
feedback on. That does add another two, almost 3, 000
hectares of land, crossing those housing and employment lands. Uh,
an additional 30, 000 homes being considered. So when I
mentioned our initial target of 6, 400 and now we're
talking about 30, 000, so that's a big step up.
And then about an approximately 980 additional jobs. The one
other thing I will point out on this slide is
our population by age. So that is also change in
our demographic is changing. We had a lot of very
long - term residents kind of grew up born and
raised in the area and state. We're now actually seeing
where we are at growth node people are moving in.
And so we're now in that 62. 96 range between
15 and 64. Which we roughly consider a age. Just
wanted to talk briefly about a newer initiative. So again,
here in neutral comes with, we have Honda as one
of our major employers. We know throughout the province, the
province has a big push on protecting our automotive sector
at the moment. So here at home, this single automairs
group, the starter formed and led by our own mayor
here, knew to come this in our cuffs. Uh, and
their latest initiative is the Canada North vehicles concept. So
this is barely new. It was just unveiled last week.
Yeah. And it looks, but you should start hearing more
about this. Essentially, we want to brand Canadian vehicles. So
other countries are known for European luxury cars, for example.
We want people to know Canada vehicles. Vote for rugged
terrain, harsh weather conditions, uh, and so they've devised this
logo as well as a campaign to promote the Canada
North, which we envisioned seeing on vehicles in the future
to identify that they weren't built here in Canada, manufactured
here in Canada. And we also foresee that this could
also apply to automatics. Next slide, please. That ends our
presentation. Unless anyone has any questions for me. Questions for
Ms. Codette. What a member Fraser. Thank you. And thank
you for the presentation. Uh, talked about Honda a little
bit. How much of the employment in the area comes
from Honda? And I'm wondering, I believe they sort of
have our backpedaling on their plans to expand for vehicles
in that area. So I'm wondering how that impacts some
of the numbers that you just shared with us. Yeah.
Great question. Thank you so that Honda is one of
our major employers, the biggest in the community in fact.
You are correct. They had envisioned building next year at
EV battery plant. They haven't canceled those plans, but they
have recently. So they first they deferred to a later
date. They've now recently announced that they are indefinitely deferring
it. So it's not canceled. Uh, they do still plan
to meet their commitment to use those lands for some
purpose. They're just not sure that it would be for
electrification. Perhaps it might be hybrid. Perhaps it might be
something else. Uh, as I alluded to in the presentation,
the Canada North vehicles are part of that stems from
our desire to support Honda. And that partnership. We also
are looking at ways to help Honda, if you will.
So I won't get into the details, but you know,
things like DC credits and things like that. Um, so
we do foresee the endoskilled trades, the skill trade center
that I, that I mentioned as well. So we do
still have a commitment from Honda that there will be
growth. We just don't know what that looks like just
yet or when that might have come. To questions board
when we're ready. Tani, you mentioned, um, at the outset
that, uh, the municipality was formed through amalgamation of a
few smaller municipalities. Are you struggling with multiple community centers,
multiple fire halls, those sorts of things? Have you done
master planning to, to kind of have a future plan
for consolidation or efficiency of services. Another excellent question. And
I think you've been through this before, absolutely. Uh, it's
gotten much better, but people are still very tied to
their community. We have a couple of memorial arenas that
were, you know, either built by or dedicated to some
of our veterans. So there's an emotional attachment to them.
Although at this point in time, they're in need of
repairs and we are talking about those strategic decisions, you
know, do we, you know, how do we manage three
rec centers? Everybody wants a pool, pick a ball is
the latest that everybody wants pickleball courts. Um, so that
is a real challenge. But remember, I, Tanya, can you
say a little bit about, um, about what you see
as some of the more significant financial challenges affecting, uh,
the town in addition to obviously the growth that, um,
anticipating over the next number of years. Certainly. Thank you.
For that question obviously, notwithstanding growth, which we have to
figure out, you know, how we're going to front end
pay for some of that so that we can manage
those that population as it arises in those houses as
they come online. Like many municipalities will now newer in
looking at our asset management plans. Even looking at our
existing assets, there is an infrastructure gap over the long
term. So we're looking at, and of course, we know
the province is now putting some restrictions in on, you
know, how DCs can be applied when DCs can be
applied, stormwater fees is another one, you know, they're now
talking about how publicly managed forests and agricultural lands can't
actually be, you know, have a stormwater fee automated speed
enforcement cameras, whereas a revenue tool that has been removed.
So, um, you know, I think like many municipalities were
now faced with some tough decisions on how we find
existing infrastructure. Much less the growth that we need and
the infrastructure that we need, particularly given as I mentioned
earlier that the province has directed us that our growth
is not necessarily centered around somewhere like Alistair, where we
already have infrastructure. It's out in what we would now
consider a rural lands. So they're currently had servicing to
them in all cases. Great. Thank you. Welcome. How long
the same lines I just like to follow up. On.
Remember Dyer's question. So how have you given any thought
to how you manage the risk that the growth, the
province's envisioning will not materialize at least at the rate
that they are thinking. When you may have to put
infrastructure in the ground in anticipation of that growth actually
happening, but it may not happen for quite some time
war and all. Great question. Yeah. That is something that's
before our council at the moment. There's been a lot
of debate. Certainly I don't, I don't want to speak
on behalf of them, but they haven't actually approved the
growth plan as presented by the province just yet. They're
actually planning to go back to the province to outline
some of the risks with that that we see as
well as some of the, uh, constraints in terms of,
you know, what they're envisioning for us versus how we
projected, we could reasonably grow. Um, we have been lucky
enough to receive some funding of late, uh, but we
certainly are going back to them and saying, you know,
with, with some of the funding challenges that we already
had, those that will actually come with the projected growth
and some of the restrictions that were now actually seen
for the providence and some of those larger grant programs
that are concluding. We are looking for provincial support as
well. Um, or I should say we, but counsel is
looking for some provincial support as well and how we
accomplish that. Thank you. Any other questions. Uh, the only
other comment I would offer is I think that Canada
North, uh, labeling on, on fires is a great idea.
Um, I know it's a challenge. If you're looking for
a car and you want to buy a card that's
built in Canada, which my wife and I do, um,
is a challenge when manufacturers are making the same vehicle
in different locations. Absolutely. So it would be helpful to
have some sort of label that's like Canada North that
was clear that that car was built in Canada. So
thank you. Great idea. Uh, thank you. Honda Civic was
built in Alistair. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. And that was a
benefit when I was looking for a car. As a
point of interest, uh, the province has put out a
directive about buying Ontario fleet. Their identification is that the
VIN starts with a two. So we want something a
little bit more visual than that. But if you're looking
for Ontario made vehicle, you look for a bin that
starts with a two marketing person. If you didn't hear
vice chair James comment, she said not a marketing person.
Could I have a motion to receive the presentation from
Ms. Goded on behalf of the town of new to
comfort. Spoig member Franken makes that motion. Oh, in favor,
please raise your hands. Any opposed that carries. So thank
you very much for joining us today. Thank you for
the presentation. You are more than welcome to stay. We've,
uh, already accepted new dicampset as a member of one
jib. And we'll be dealing with their investment plan. I
think four items from now. So if you want to
stay, you're welcome to, but if you have other things
you need to do, that's also fine. Whatever works for
you is good. Wonderful. Thank you everyone for having us
today. All right. Thank you. Okay. So, um, board members,
we've dealt with item 7a. So we're now on to
a series of investment plans starting with item 7b. First
one is the township of the front of young. Any
questions on their investment plan. Member Franken, my notes on
my phone. There was a section on section three that
said that alternatives were allowed, but that it was not
recommended to do this because the lack of experience or
exposure to. Complex investments. Great question. I just wanted to
understand that. Great question, Mr. Taylor. Well, broadly speaking with,
uh, municipalities, we've always worked for the process of prawl
law run. We want to make sure that our investors
know what they're getting into. They have experience in the
type of investments. We're getting them into. Front of young
is coming from bank accounts and GICs, um, although council
may have actually, uh, approved an IPS that had permitted
envy, the document. I don't have any confidence that they
have. They're, they're aware of the details of it. I'd
rather with the, uh, the municipality and the treasure to
make sure that they're aware of what they're getting into.
Um, the number of municipalities based on, on what they
have in their MCQ, the investment variety is appropriate for,
for long term, uh, investments like alternative investments. Um, I
don't think there's any particular rush. And I want to
make sure that it's an informed decision. So it is
a judgment call. There are certain municipalities where I think
it's a slam dunk in these circumstances. I'd rather them
get comfortable and we get comfortable with them. I mean,
one is the liquidity issue. And the other is that
there's actually very punitive. They need to draw them on
you down or change allocation, uh, with the alternative investments.
The brake feuds are about five percent in the first
year and deplinding by one percent every year. So I
want to make sure that they're comfortable. I want to
make sure that I'm comfortable, that they are aware of
the circumstances. And the say we can't put alternative investments
in the portfolio at a later date. Thanks for that.
Um, so my question then is because this one with
such a very long time horizon. I think it was
30 plus years and then very low risk of withdrawal.
I just am curious or would like to hear board
member feedback on. I appreciate the point. But if ever
there was a one to have altered like the seems
except for the experience issue and the concern, this seems
like it would be the one. So what is our
role or our, uh, view, if somebody seems to fit
squarely in that, but there's a concern at them in
a municipality's not, uh, we're the ones making the decision
ultimately. Right. So just wanted to hear some feedback on
that. So, um, vice chair Jameson had the same issue.
That gender review. So if the board feels, um, it
would be appropriate to include alternative investments in their investment
plan. We can just amend the investment plan at this
meeting. Motion to that effect. But board member dyer. Yeah.
So I had, I had the exact same, uh, comment
as a board member, board member Franken. And I guess
there's a couple of aspects to it. So the first
is, and it supplies to, I think front of young
Georgina and new compsy new to come see who have
all have policies that allow for alternatives. But as, as
recommended, the plan would not include them. And so, so
I guess I think a couple of things. The first
is that, um, I think we should try to approve
a plan that is consistent with the policy. That's not
to say that we have to or should jump into
investing in, um, alternatives right away. But it gives the
staff team and our OCIO, the opportunity to take advantage
of those, uh, investments, um, in the moment. Right? Because
if I, if I understand it right, if the. Staff
would have to come back to this board to amend
the policy in order to actually invest in something that's
already in the policy. No, that happened. Taking sense. Not
quite. You'd have to amend the investor plan. Sorry. I
misspoke. Yes. We have to amend the plan. Which we
could do today if you want. Right. So I would
recommend, I would propose that we amend the three plans
today. Where their policy allows for, um, uh, foreign alternatives.
Again, it's not to say that that action would be
taken right away. It just gives, it just gives the,
the staff team and the OCIO, the opportunity to take
advantage of those opportunities. Does that make sense? That's not
how it works. The, uh, the OCIO will respond to
what is approved by the one chip. If you approve
alternative investments, they get. Sort of, just for clarity. Okay.
Thank you. That's helpful. So I think board member Dyer,
what we would do if the board, um, wishes. And
if you want to make a motion to this effect,
uh, we would deal with them one by one. Fair
enough. And, uh, what we do in this case is
we amend recommendation number three to be model G plus
rather than Model G. Yes. That's what I would propose.
Okay. So you're making that amendment. Yeah. All right. So
commentary on that. Board member. I would prefer see something
from staff to say that the municipality is aware of
what they're getting into and that they are comfortable that.
People, that the whoever's responsible to municipal level is comfortable
with that investment before COVID. They put forward a plan
which allows them to do it. I'm not sure that
we should go ahead and do it without being comfortable
that they are aware of what it is they are
actually getting into. Just give a follow up. When we
do discuss the investment plan, the proposed investment plan with
municipality. We also talk about the risk that are on
roll. Obviously it's the, uh, the Jibs view and the
recommendation that is most important here. But yeah, the, the
model that's in the plan here has been discussed with
the municipality. Discussion and understanding or not necessarily the same
thing. Uh, I mean, if you're telling me that you
have a reason to believe that it's, it sounds like
you have reasonably that they're not totally aware of what
the investments are and their risks are. Um, I would,
I'd like to hear you say that, yes, we've explained
it. They're educated. They're ready to go. Don't think they
are. Yeah. That's what that's what I was in a
judgment call. I mean, like on paper. Yeah. You look
at the other reserves. Absolutely. This is a slam dunk.
This is suitable. Um, I don't think there's any rush.
We can certainly get them in next year. I'd like
to have that conversation within this palette. You know, for
a number of these new guys, it's a bit of
a leap from where they are to where they're going.
Um, it may be the direction they need to go.
And please, please note that I talk about alternative investments
with every municipality. If they haven't permitted it in the
IPS, I will mention, you know, your circumstances are such
that I think it is appropriate. Uh, but I think
that, that, you know, for some of these, uh, these
new guys, the level of maturity, uh, the knowledge of
investments, um, you know, Crawl run, that's really a very
simplistic way of putting it. But yeah, it is absolutely
suitable, but I'm not sure about the conflict level and
full understanding. Well, remember Fraser sort of following up on
board member Giles question. Um, did you, um, and just
to clarify, did you talk to them about G plus
in terms of a portfolio with an alternative in it
in terms of your discussion with them in terms of
arriving at the recommendation of G. Um, I had suggested
G in other circumstances that we have had new municipalities
that went straight into alternative investments. Uh, and I praise
the treasurer's knowledge. Such a thing knew exactly what they
were getting into. Um, I wasn't there with, with, with
some of these, these other new guys. Thank you. Board
member ready. So agree with board member Frank and on
this project is perfect for this allocation of fines to
a long - term obligation. I think what we need
to also consider though is the fragility of the environment
that municipalities are working in right now. If something else
comes up or some other revenue tool disappears, will they
have to change? And the long - term nature of
alts, uh, and the, you know, sophistication of a municipality
of this size. I understand those staff constraints. I think
I like the approach. I'm going to be saying the
opposite when we get to Georgina, but I think for
this one, this, I like the recommendations. So I'll be
voting against the. Um, I remember Lechman. So I'm, I'm
mindful of the board's role versus management's role or staff's
role in getting involved in some of these, well, I'll,
I see the point. I'm just mindful of the fact
that our job is to sort of prove the models.
And the accountability responsibilities left with the chief investment officer,
which I think he should have some discretion. I also
support this cause it's a leap from GIC to launcher
assets. Um, in a year, they come up for a
review, maybe a different story. But I also think we
have to be mindful of, unless it's something egregious, it's
not our job to, to be in the leads on
some of these issues. So, um, maybe on the next
one, it's different. Um, I think this can go either
way. So I defer to management. Anyone else. Remember with
cleanline fan castle. So in this one in particular, with
it being, uh, relating to the investment for the landfill
closure funds. So it talks about the annual review from
their auditors and you have discussions with them like, what
if there is a loss on some of the investments
and how they would manage that. And if you could
share that with us. Yes. So we did, we did
talk with the, um, we did talk with the treasure.
That was my one of the questions. Right. What happens
if it goes down the loss? It really is right
now. If you look at what their financial statements are,
what it says and what the reserve was, there were
already was a bit of a gap. Um, so they've
identified the gap in their financials, but it's not an
automatic top up. They are still continuing to put money
in each and every year. Um, and the hope is
eventually to close that gap. And then to stop using,
um, taxpayers, dollars to make the annual contribution would be
the ideal portion, the ideal goal in some percentage, um,
but yeah, they don't have to, doesn't it doesn't have
to be an automatic payment if the market dip. Going
to more directly. Uh, we talk about risk with every
client we meet. We will remind them that that dialing
up the, uh, the equity exposure increases the probability of
short - term losses. We want to make sure that
they know what they're getting into. So we understand this
is very much a long - term view. Yes. But
do it's always, right. To deciding which portfolio, it's a
bit of our art and science. The numbers are the
more the science, but then there's the art, the field,
the knowledge of the treasure, their understanding of what's going
on. So really all three parties, after we met with
this municipality myself, Keith and Phn, all basically came out
and said, alt's not right away. It is a goal
in a couple of years, but let's stepping up this,
uh, let's get them stepping up into their, their comfort
level. First. And I do think this is a good
candidate for alternatives, but I do appreciate the, the views
from staff and that we move into that in the
future, but maybe not this time. Okay. So, Mr. James.
Comment, I guess, just from a pure investment standpoint, the
addition of alts would seem to be the most prudent
thing. Again, you've got to match it up to what
they're doing. But just from the investment side, it actually
reduces risk. Um, and I would question their understanding. To
me, municipality probably understands infrastructure and real estate more than
they do emerging markets equity. So I guess my question
is, and I'm understanding that maybe the reason to do
it a little more slowly. My question would then be
what are staff's plans to educate. Our municipalities so that
they are ready as opposed to just, if we feel
sometime in the future, they are, we'll pull the trigger
then. Like we really should be educating them on this
because it is a risk reduction. It will be a
conversation next year. This year, there's a lot of hurdles
to get over with the documentation. Uh, understanding of their
circumstances, understanding of how things work at the one jib,
understanding of equities in the sort. Um, it's an ongoing
conversation. I, I assure you the next year we'll, we'll
deal, we'll make another assessment. And we'll just be discussing
it with the treasure. And, uh, making sure that they,
they and their counsel understand the adulterer investments are a
little bit different than the rest of their portfolio. And
the idea is to get them into the core portfolio,
get the other growth of what, uh, what PI offers.
We can always revisit that. One of the opportunities that
we have is we actually hold quarterly participating municipality meetings.
And I think that would be a great venue just
to remind people and doing education session about, uh, the
illiquidity of alts and how that, uh, impacts their portfolio
as well as how that would be reflected in the
investment policy statements. Keep in mind, these are template documents
that go to council and we always have to keep
that in the back of our mind, uh, making sure
that people understand clearly both at the council and at
the staff level and municipalities about what they're approving. We've
actually booked PHN to come and speak to Ms. Pallisa
at their September meeting. So the September meeting will include
an education session on alts. Yeah. I think it's, it's
messaging because we shouldn't be focusing on each individual investment
separately. Like we are looking at the totality. So if
we're sort of missing an understanding of one of those
pieces, um, it sounds like you've got some plans to
address that. And I would also ask, I'm not sure
who to ask, but, uh, I think it would be
good to have pH in income to Jiv and talk
about those two strategies too. So that we're sure we
understand. Uh, what they are. Cause I don't think we've,
we've reviewed those in detail. We're going to confident position.
Where they give us more reserves next year. Let me
move them into an allocation where alts are not, not,
not in there. And they need to sell. So and
I don't have enough, uh, detail about the, uh, the
stability of what their money not quality is going to
be in the future. To. Yeah. So I think it's
just premature. That's all. So I'm going to call for
a vote in a second. I'm just going to offer
one comment first though. So we have, um, a couple
of things at play here. We have an approved investment
policy statement. Proved by council. So, um, we're required to
pay a lot of attention. Factor investment plans have to
conform. So in these municipal cases, board membered I pointed
out. So they are an option. And it's up to
us as a board to decide whether alts are appropriate
given that the council has said okay to alts. It's
up to us to decide whether they are appropriate given
the municipality circumstances. And to me, the fact that a
treasure or a municipal staff are uncomfortable, um, or inexperienced,
if council has already approved the investment policy statement, to
me, that doesn't get a lot of weight. It's really
up to the board's judgment. Rather than putting a lot
of emphasis on what municipal staff are saying. It's up
to the board's judgment to decide whether alts are appropriate
in their circumstances. So I'm just going to offer that
comment and then I'll call for the vote on the
amendment. So board member Dyer has, um, put forward an
amendment to approve the township in front of young's proposed
investment plan to be invested in Model G plus. That's
the amendment. So all those in favor, please raise your
hands. So I'm going to count here. One, two, three,
four, five. Posed. One, two, three, four, five. Okay. Dennis,
what do I do now? We have Jennifer online. Yeah.
Did board member. Say, sorry I had to unmute. I
had to admit myself. I would vote against the amendment
for the G plus. Okay. So the amendment fails. In
a close phone. All right. So now we'll go to
the, um, all the recommendations. So if there's no further
discussion, can I have a motion to adopt the recommendations
and the report as follow. Number one, receive the township
of front of young's invested policy statement, which is attachment
one. Number two, receive the township up front of Young's
municipal client questionnaire, which is attachment too. And number three,
approve the front of the angst proposed investment plan to
be invested in model G. All those in favor, please
raise your hands. Mr. Make that more. Oh, sorry. Yeah.
We need some, we need someone to make the most
thanks to us. Board member ready makes the motion. I'll
in favor. Please raise your hands. Any opposed. All right.
Thanks, Karen. So a good discussion. Um, so now we're
on to town of Arduino's investment plan. So I'm sure
there are comments on this report given some of the
discussion that has happened already. So open the floor to
flesh into discussion. I remember ready since you said you
were going to switch position. Uh, so, uh, and I
don't know if I'm positioned to make an event yet,
but I will say that to me, this one is
different. Larger municipality, uh, they've stated that, uh, they're one
to three year investments, which aren't under our purviewer in
excess around 30 million dollars. To me, there's more flexibility
there. They've provided an allowance for alt. I would be,
um, interested in keys, the discussion with them was a
little more evolved than front of young. And if we're
in a different position. I have less confidence in the
investments horizon for the reserves here than they are for
for front of you. He could easily be a much
shorter than, than what we have here. If it had
reserve next year that could dilute the investment horizon, um,
I can't nail this one down. I mean, for the
investments horizon front of young, suitability is definitely there for
these numbers. I just can't do that. So it kind
of plays into the reason for being reluctant to introduce
them at this time. Anyone else. We exhausted this topic.
Boy remember, probably. Yeah. I think I just took my
reason for voting against on the previous is simply, um,
I think board member Leckman and vice chair. James makes
a really good point, which is one to a certain
degree. We're relying on the input from the CIO. The
meetings that they're having. And the second piece is the
education side, which there needs to be a pathway to
say, how do we actually get them from where they
are today to be comfortable? Um, and just sort of
the practical example I'll use is private credit. Right? So
the one thing about talking about liquidity was some of
these investments. And then the other thing when you actually
have gating implemented, which we've seen in private credit over
the last few months, right. And understanding that difference, because
it does happen from time to time. And people who
are comfortable in theory with illiquidity often have a very
different reaction when gating is actually implemented. So I think
it's the two pieces judgment and then the pathway to,
you know, getting the education in that the municipality needs
to get comfortable, excuse me. Anyone else. Ford member Franco,
I'm just like, uh, chair queues about your comment about,
you know, the council has approved, uh, the alt. And,
you know, I'd almost rather that the template goes to
counsel without that in if the feeling that there's an
uncomfortableness of, uh, the staff not being ready, then have
it in there. And then, then we apply the judgment
that they're not ready. So we're going to ignore what
council approved. I don't know. It's just, it's just a
thought. It's just that disconnect to me between like what
the council has said they're willing to do. And what
we're then saying. And I fully support the agreements, you
know, baby steps and all that. Like I don't have
an issue with that. It's just more the optics, I
guess, of council versus what we're saying here and what's
our role as a gym to make the ultimate decider.
So, so, so staff take the investment policy statement to
counsel. Right. So if I were a staff member and
I was uncomfortable with alts, I would say that to
council. So it's to me, it's weird that council has
approved an investment policy statement that includes alts and, uh,
we're saying that staff are uncomfortable with. If they were
uncomfortable, they should have recommended against it. Right. That's board
member ready. I will maybe just add a little color
to that conversation. Because to me, the investment policy statement
that councils approve, uh, set in place a framework for
the gym who council seizes the professionals to make decisions
within that framework. That doesn't mean use them because we
said they're available. It means they're available if you guys
think as professionals you should use them. Councils aren't professionals
at this. That's why this got delegated to an investment.
So I think we should feel comfortable being flexible within
that policy framework. Absolutely. Good comment. Anyone else. On this.
Okay. So, um, I see no one proposing amendment. So
I'm just going to call the question. So could I
have a motion to adopt the recommendations and the report
as follows? Number one, receive the town of Georgina's investment
policy statement attachment one. Number two, receive the town of
Jordanius municipal client questionnaire attachment to. And number three approved
the town of Jardim's proposed investment plan to be invested
in Moto G. Attachment three. We would like to make
that motion board member poteni makes that motion on favor.
Please raise your hands. Any opposed that carries. All right.
So now we're on to the municipality of Lampton Shores
investment plan. Any questions or discussion on this one.
Are either comfortable or exhausted. I'm not sure where. All
right. So, um, if the discussion then could I have
a motion to adopt the recommendation the report as follows.
Number one receive the municipality of lampton shores and vessel
policy statement, which is attachment one. Number two received municipality
lamped insurance municipal client questionnaire, which is attachment to. And
number three approved the municipality of lamp insurance proposed investment
plan to be invested in Model G. We're doing a
lot on Model G. Board member Fraser makes that motion.
All in favor, please raise your hands. Mary's. Okay. So
now we're on to the town of new to Kumseth
investment plan. Any questions or comments on this one. I
think we're in the same place we were with the
previous one. All right. So I could have a motion
to adopt the recommendations in the report as follows. Number
one received the town of new to come sith invested
policy statement, which is attachment one. Number two received the
town of ninth to Comseth Municipal client questionnaire, which is
attachment too. And number three approve the town of new
to come sit proposed investment plan to be invested in
Model E. So a different one. Different model this time.
Okay. Uh, with someone like to make that motion. Board
member Giles makes that motion all in favor, please raise
your hands. On that cherry. Okay. Great. So maybe what
we'll do is we'll do the, um, consent items and
take a break how sad. So there's six items listed
on the agenda as items receiving by consent. The first
one is the risk on an audit committee update for
Q2 2026. Um, the second one is the municipal performance
reports for Q1. Third one is the compliance report asset
class and target weight allocations for Q1. Fourth is strategic
plan Q1 progress update. Fifth is the investment plan implementation
report for Q1. And the sixth is the municipal insight
support. Q2 version of that. Would any members of the
board like to hold or pull any of these consent
items for questions or discussion. Uh, board member Giles, which
one? 8D, the strategic plan. I just had a comment
today. Okay. Well, if it's just a comment, go ahead.
Uh, I made this one before, but the, uh, focus
on growth of assets under management again needs to be
split between the net contributions in the municipalities and the
market effect of those assets. If the market goes up
20 percent and you're assets under management goes up 20,
you're Mike patch yourself in the back and saying you're
having a great year. But it wouldn't necessarily be the
case. And I think also, um, we were working on
the strategic plan when we're thinking about adding new municipalities
as well. Yeah. So you need to break it up
in the set. So staff can take that under advisement.
Um, any other. So board member Fraser. Either eight C
or eight E. I think it's both the same moment
or same question. I can tell what this is going
to be. Go ahead. I just wanted to ask staff
maybe to elaborate on the issues with respect to the,
uh, transition is Quinty West where they're placed in April.
Um, so you have providers and comments in the book
process. We just want to ask you to elaborate a
bit on that. Oh, that's good. It's good to surface
it at the board meeting. Who would like to comment
on that? Sure. Uh, I'd be glad to. Um, typically
one there is the cash movements, uh, when the cash
arrives, things automatically get deployed. In this particular case, the
buzzed no cash in or out. With plenty west, uh,
investment plan update. So it's trade we're not implemented on
the same timeline. Honestly, I believe it should have been
done more promptly. We will make sure that, uh, you
know, the follow - up meetings immediately after the Jamaican,
the way, the way it works is that pH and,
um, responds to approved investment plans, uh, but we need
something in place to make sure that even if there
isn't cash moving, they still, uh, implement. In their case,
what would have needed to be done is that the
allocation chain would have need to be updated in their
portfolio management system, Charles River. And, uh, then they'd be
automatically triggered that they're out of compliance and that a
rebalance was required. Uh, that did not happen. Uh, we
did not on the modeling spreadsheets that we have for
that. It was also not done. So it was backpedaling.
Um, as noted, it had a positive impact on performance,
which doesn't really help very much. Uh, I think we
can do better. Thank you. Uh, I think Mr. Taylor,
if I remember correctly PHN also offered staff turnover as
a factor in this, I wouldn't pin it on that.
This, this regardless of that. Um, it requires better monitoring
and then follow up with due to ensure it doesn't
happen. So you've put a new process in place to
make sure. That's good. I would remember like when I
think you had, it's something it's similar in your commentary
just on trading supplementation report. So these are all simply
sewing one fund and buying the other fund in the
rebalancing. And also in the switch from the international to
the other international. So what's, what's the question? Is it
just a matter of buying and selling units. And it's
unsult simultaneously. As best as can be possible. In this
case, Yahweh simultaneously. If it's less liquid, some moving parts.
So that kind of commentary is what's important, not just
the facts that you put in here. It's that it's
at the editorial commentary. You talk about was trading implemented
effectively where their transaction cost there aren't or whatever. I
mean, it's more the execution commentary we need as opposed
to just saying this is what happened. I think would
be it's much that's what's useful to me. Not just
saying we switch from this one to this fund. Possible.
Okay. So staff can take that comment on your advice.
Thank you for that. Any anything else on the consent
items. Then could I have a motion to adopt consent
items 8A 8B 8C 8D 80 and 8F. And the
recommendations contain in the related staff reports all of which
are to receive the report. I don't want to smack
that motion. There we are. Ford member Dyer makes that
motion. I don't think the please raise your hands. Any
opposed. So these six items are now completed. I think
it's probably a good time for a break. So if
someone would need a motion. Yeah. So how about a
motion for a 10 minute break. So vice chair James
makes that motion on favor. So any opposed carries. Okay.
So we'll take a 10 minute break and then we'll
come back and do some more before latch. Thank you
everyone. Good discussion.
So I'll say that again. We're green. All right,
so we're on item 9a on your agendas, the external
investment manager oversight report for Q1. Any questions on the
support. I wanna look at, all right. And could I
have a motion to adopt the recommendation of received report?
So do you make that motion, please, board member of
Putin makes that motion all in favor? Please raise your
hands. Any opposed. Thank you, that carries. So now we
are on to a regular presentation from PHNN. So Mark
LeClaire is at the podium. Well, thank you. Thanks. And
thanks for having us. So in the matter of time
we have, I'm gonna go fairly quickly over the first
part of the presentation, which is the standard slides. If
I go correctly, it doesn't mean don't ask any question.
If I go quickly, it's not because I wanna hide
something. So, but it was a fairly quiet. Quarter, performance
is good. So, but I will make a point on
each slide. We do have a special guest today with
us. Melanie Adams, who is our managing director and head
of responsible investment, that's going to be a very important
conversation. We certainly want to hurt to have the spotlight
today. She heads up a team of 18 people. Based
in London, Toronto, and Vancouver. Her team does work in
the background, right behind the scenes, but they are influential.
They have an impact on every single fund that we
have on the one - jip platforms. Certainly looking forward
to this conversation. Moving on to the next page, please.
Yes, thank you. We do have a new member joining
the one team at PHNN following Dylan's departure. And given
the strategic importance of this relationship, we really wanted to
find an exceptional talent to replace a dillon. And Catherine
said, yes. And so welcome, Catherine. Catherine has been with
PhNN for 14 years. She's an IPM, an institutional portfolio
manager. And she's a quant expert. Uh, she works closely
with a cube team, which is quite useful considering the
important exposure that we have to that team. Uh, some
of you have met her in person at the Phoenix
event in April and we'll be, uh, she will be
here on every game. Um, so thank you, Catherine, for
being here. On the next page, the multiple model portfolio,
please. Thank you. So, uh, just two models very quickly
here. Very pleased to see that more, uh, municipalities are
adopting real estate infrastructure. Those private assets, um, they are
important for long - term performance. Um, you know, in
terms of inflation protection, low correlation, low correlation to public,
uh, assets, very steady income. So this is an important
asset class. So we're quite pleased to see some of
them are willing and to invest in those, in those
strategies. We did pass along, um, the details on how
these two funds are priced. You should have this along
with your package. Um, happy to circle back on that.
If there's any question now secondly the annual review. So
these portfolio force are reviewed annually. And approved annually at
least annually by the board. And so we have started
the process of reviewing this internally. So we are working
with new capital market assumptions. We have a few ideas.
So stay tuned. We are going to come forward with
some, some ideas. And more data in the coming weeks.
Now on the next page, please. Thank you. Um, just
to summarize this page, you know, we came into 2026
with, uh, US economy in a companies that there were
some, some major tailwinds, um, you know, think about the
massive AI CAP expending, uh, their regulation tax got, um,
so we got in 2026 with, uh, very, very strong
earnings. And that's a very positive. That helped the market,
you know, that helps support the market. That made the
market quite, I would say resilient. Um, interface of, uh,
what happened in the Middle East, the War in Ireland.
So the Warren Iran created a bit of a chaos
and volatility, uncertainty. Um, it, it certainly created a bit
of a commodity price shock inflation up. And so, you
know, you have central banks essentially going from a commodity
stance to a restrictive sense. So really this is what
happened in Q1 that needs to be, that needs to
be monitored. So we should expect a higher risk premium
on risk assets for some time. From a performance perspective
on that page here, um, just want to very briefly
touch on three asset classes. The first one short term
bonds. Performing well, it's doing their job. Uh, it's a
defensive holding. Played its role in Q1. In Q1, we
saw the short term rates coming up. So that's putting
a bit of pressure, uh, on, on the asset class.
But overall, a good performance. The Canadian equity, uh, still
outperforming. It's still one of the best equity markets in
the world. Uh, the, the oil and commodity, uh, price
shock. It's actually benefiting Canada given, given, given, given the
companies that we have here. And the same could be
said to some emerging economies. So Canada has been, has
been fairly quite well in that situation. Um, from a
credit perspectives of third line, so this is the third
largest exposure in the platform, global multi asset credit, which
is the blue bay total return credit fund. Um, when
you look at credit and fixing income and investment grade
bonds, if you look at the compression of spreads over
the last few years, um, we're, we're back. The threads
are, are back to what they were in tune 2007.
So it's, it's quite expensive. I mean, it's supported that
good earnings. Um, but in given, it's so expensive. Um,
given the market shock that we had in Q1, we
saw the spreads coming off a little bit. And so
that's the reason why you had a bit of a
negative performance there. Fill on to the next phase, please.
So these are all the model portfolios. Um, despite volatility,
lots of uncertainty, those model portfolios, they did protect, uh,
armed as felt these assets quite well, uh, for convenience.
We added the expected returns and volatility just to give
you a bit of context on when we built those
models, um, using the capital market assumption of last year,
um, this is what you should expect. I mean, I
remind everybody that the expected return here is a 10
year expected annualized return and volatility is a one year
volatility. The point here is when you look at the
volatility and the performance for these models, you know, you
have much stronger returns with much less volatility. And I
made that point of the last meeting. So is sustainable.
Perhaps it is, but maybe it's not. So it's, I
think it's, it's fair to say we could expect 2026.
Maybe it's a year where we start reverting. Next slide,
please. Yes. Comment on the underperformance versus the reference portfolios?
Yes. Insignificant. It's significant because the reference portfolio is, um,
it's made up of can equities and universe bonds. That's
the proxy we're using. And can iniquities has been the
by far this equity performance. So the fact that we
are well diversified over such a period of time when
a candidate market is outperforming so much, that's creating the
underperformance in every single folios. Simply the Canadian equity mark?
Yes. Follow the question on that. Have you actually done
the attribution analysis to identify how much of that. Is
to, uh, we have done the attribution. I don't have
the numbers with me, but I'm happy to circulate that.
Staff and put it in the resource slide. Yes. Of
course. On the next page commercial mortgage. Yes. Okay. So,
um, it's, it's still a fairly slow market, um, but
we've seen a reasonable flow of deal in the Q1,
we review just about three billion in deals. And our
ratio is about 10 percent that we actually fund. Which
happened in Q1. Um, and out of this 300 million
that we funded about 100 million was allocated to one
investment. Um, so, um, the queue is, is, is, is
moving on. Um, slowly but surely, uh, but we do
expect that the pace will pick up and we expect
that the queue here that you see should be gone
in about six to 12 months. Now regarding the front
performance on the next few pages. Well, um, nothing much
to say here in terms of fixed income, it's strong
relative performance across the board. I would say, uh, entering
the very quickly entering the, uh, we were short duration
generally speaking, entering the, the quarter. We are now long
durations likely long duration, uh, and we are being very
defensive on, on investment grade, uh, we, this is not
a place where we are willing to take too much
risk. On the next page equities still, it's a very
tough market for active managers, but you know, generally speaking,
the funds are doing okay. Happy to have some, some,
some, some, some style diversification when you look at quant
versus fundamental. That's been very healthy. Um, the one place
where I want to comment is the RBC international equity
fund. This is still a fun. That's on our watch
list, but there's been a change in leadership in the
fund. Uh, and that's effective April 30th of this year.
So it's very recent. Um, so we have co -
leadership. You have met with David Lambert in queue four,
uh, David is still the co - head of the
fund. He's still managing her up. But in Asia, we
changed the leadership. Um, the attribution when we look at
the fund and how it performed, the real, the real
problem was a Japanese stock selection. And so that fund
had a strong underperformance in its Japanese carve out. And
so the person that's replacing, uh, the cohead, um, she
is the current manager for the RBC Japanese equity fund
and are outperformances about five percent So she's currently realigning
the portfolio around her own, um, ideas and themes. And
so, um, we certainly hope that it's going to, uh,
improve performance, uh, short to medium term. And that is
pretty much it. Uh, we have low vol after, well,
we have, uh, emerging market on the next page, nothing
here to comment really. Um, and low vol, I'm highlighting
the five years here because low volatility, the goal of
these strategies is to, um, have a performance that's similar
to the broad market over a full cycle, but with
much less volatility. And this is what we are seeing
over five years, which you've been argued as a full
cycle, similar performance. And when you look at the volatility
numbers down, it's much older. Um, and as you can
see, just three months, um, the US has now been
a good market in the first three months of the
year, but the significant outperformance from, uh, the fund that
you were invested in. And that's exactly what we expect
during time of stress. We'll stop here. Moving on to
the next page, maybe Melanie. I think it's time to
have now in here. So as I said, Melanie joined,
uh, RBC on 2014. She's managing director at a responsible
investment. Um, big team. Ask any question. This is an
important component of asset management, very influential, uh, and critical
to RBC GAM, Melanie. What I'll for do, please, um,
please dig the stage. Okay. Just before. Oh, yes. Um,
any questions for Mr. Leclerc before we move on to
Ms. Adams. Oh, people are comfortable. Okay. So welcome, Ms.
Adams. We're looking forward to this. Thank you very much.
Thanks so much for having me. And thank you everyone
for your interest in the responsible investment space. It's been
a space where we've seen a lot of change over
the last few years. So please feel free as I'm
speaking to interrupt me and ask questions as we go.
That might, uh, make it easier, but also I'll make
sure to save some time at the, for questions at
that time. So if we could, um, who's controlling the
deck, if we could go to the first slide on
the deck. Thank you. So is Marty mentioned responsible investment
is a priority for asset game. The reason it's a
priority is we believe that we can help our risk
return profile over the long time. If we're looking at
environmental, social and governance factors as part of the process.
The RI team is, as Marty mentioned as well, primarily
based in London and Toronto, we do have members in
Vancouver and Minneapolis as well. Our role is set out
on here. We developed the strategies across the firm. We
develop our policies, how we think about different ESG factors,
doing the deep research for the investment teams. But a
big part are sort of red and butter is the
second pillar that you see there, which is supporting the
investment teams. We are on the investment platform. My boss
is do CECADWEL, our CIO. And what we're primarily tasked
with is helping the investment teams think through these issues
and how they integrate it as part of their investment
process. We also do the proxy voting on behalf of
the firm. So for all of our equity portfolios, we
have a centralized function. We work very closely with the
investment team. Sometimes you hear that maybe proxy voting at
the AGMs is separate. For us, it's a really important
part of our fiduciary duty to our clients, but we
also want to have that deep expertise. We want to
talk to the investment teams closely and we want to
execute our, our votes in a consistent manner across our
portfolios. Uh, we are involved in industry initiatives. We are
involved in engagements. For example, climate engagement candidates and organization
that we're a part of. And we also, you know,
we also do a lot of work with clients as
well to make sure that we're out there conveying how
we think about these issues to our, to our clients.
We can go to the next slide. So this is
our approach responsible investment. This is a document the policy
that governs how we think about these at a firm
level. We think about it in three different pillars. First
of all, is the ESG integration. This is the bread
and butter that I spoke to on the previous slide.
It's about looking at the investment teams, how they're thinking
about ESG factors, where they're exposed, you know, merging markets
has different considerations than Canadian equities, for example, how are
we thinking about. Um, and helping the teams do that.
So they're making the right decisions. We don't interfere with
the investment process or the investment decision making process. That
is entirely, uh, up to the investment teams, but we
help them think about some of these research and some
of these deeper issues. Active stewardship is the second pillar.
This is two components of this and I'll get into
them in a little more detail. One is engagement. How
we meet with the boards and senior management of the
companies in which we're invested. And secondly, the proxy voting
that I just spoke to a moment ago and how
we think about different issues and how we're going to
vote our proxies. For example, how we break down CEO
compensation? When do we think that it's appropriate? When are
we going to vote against the say on pay ballot
item. And then the final pillar and how we think
about this is, is our client driven solutions and reporting.
This is both making sure that we have the funds
and the mandates that our clients are looking for, but
also that we're speaking to our clients that we're putting
out the insight pieces that clients are looking for that
we're meeting with, with clients and explaining and talking about
some of these different issues. At the bottom of the
slide, we know systemic ESG factors. This is something that
we've seen change quite a lot in the last few
years. We've had climate change as one of the first
systemic issues. Well, I won't say first, actually, I think
the first is governance. Governance has been around for a
very long time. That's a, you know, across the board.
But we have seen climate change become really, really important
in a big topic of conversation. And we're seeing human
rights become a really big topic of conversation. And of
course now we're seeing AI come into the fold, uh,
in the responsible investment space. On the next slide. So
I've talked about this very briefly. Um, I, I know
that there's a number of different portfolios, but when we
think about, um, how we integrate ESG across our investment
teams, the investment teams all have their own processes. They
have their own way of doing that. And this is
what allows them to deliver the performance that they are
able to deliver for their clients. But what we do
is we help look at the overall process. What are
the research inputs? What are the data inputs? How do
these feed in? How are we thinking about engagements and
how is that being fed into the process? How are
we thinking about proxy voting communicating that, uh, as part
of the engagement process and as part of the investment
making decision process. And so that all comes together in
how we think about our different portfolios. And I'll give
a couple of examples. So I'll, I'll, maybe on the
next slide, this sets out the three. Ways we think
about ESG integration, which first of all, I said it's
investment led. The investment teams drive this. We help them,
but they, they drive how they think about their process.
We focus on materiality. So climate change, if it's not
material, we're not focusing on that as part of the
investment process. Climate change is material actually for a lot
of issuers, but there are other ESG factors that are
not. So we are going to focus our time on
the ones that have the most material impact. And then
finally continuously improves and innovates. I always think of and
my team as sort of a little bit of an
innovation hub around the firm and how we're thinking about
this partly because we see the trends coming. We see
with, you know, we see what's coming down. We can
see, you know, we're talking about water usage and data
centers and AI, for example, we're talking about, we see
these wars globally. What are the human rights impacts and
how should we be thinking about this? So we, we
do tend to, to be on the, on the leading
edge. And we have a lot of, um, skill sets
on the team. And as we do across the firm,
all the investment teams have data and technical skills right
within the team. We do as well on the responsible
investment team, but we also have climate expertise on the
team. We have governance expertise on the team. We have
very, very high AI usage on the responsible investment team.
So we're always looking at ways to, to do better
and keep on the leading edge in this space. But
on the next slide, I thought I would, I would
give a little bit of an example of how we
think about some of these in climate change, of course,
is a systemic factor that we started looking at in
great detail really in 2019. Um, when we first rolled
out the climate dashboards for all of the investment teams,
this is a sample. It's actually, um, a web -
based tool that is a little bit more interactive. So
this is just a little snapshot of what it looks
at. So one of our investment go in and they
can see under the carbon emissions, they can see the
finance emissions. They can see the weighted average carbon intensity
trends. Um, they can see the top holdings that have
the highest emissions, um, they can see the transition. So
it's not always about the risk. Sometimes it's about the
opportunity where the green opportunities within the portfolio. You can
see net zero alignment. Um, if there are targets, we
can see that within the portfolio and we can also
do scenario analysis. And so we, we do this. We
also every year we put out our own climate report
where we look at this at the firm level and
we disclose all of our metrics to the extent that
data is available to be fully transparent and what we're
seeing in our portfolios. The next slide is just another
quick. Overview on the systemic risk of governance. I just,
especially now with what we're seeing in the US, we're
seeing a lot of shareholder rights. Issues that are emerging.
And I'll give one very, very quick example, which is
the SEC is not opining now. It used to be
that companies would file with the SEC if they wanted
to remove a ballot item from, from their AGM, from
the ballot. And the SEC would provide an opinion on
whether it was appropriate for them to not include that
on, um, on the ballot. The SEC has said they
are not providing that opinion anymore. So what's interesting about
this is that they're not providing the opinion doesn't mean
it's right or wrong to the company to do it.
What we're doing now, we're seeing that. We view that
as a little bit problematic because what we're seeing now
are more issuers in the US or moving items from
the ballot where we don't think that's appropriate. We would
like to have a vote on it. And we might
not have voted against management. We might not agree with
that ballot item. But it's the concept that it should
go on the ballot. We are a shareholder and we
would like to have a vote. We would like to
have a say on these particular items. And one thing
we did see this past proxy voting season is a
number of companies who did not put items on the
ballot that we thought we should have voted on. And
so how we opted to proceed was to vote against
one of the directors on the company to say we
didn't think that that was an appropriate exercise of this
right here. And so, you know, we didn't do that
in every circumstance, but we were going, we have gone
through every day. The SEC website because it's still listed
the ones that they have not put on the ballot.
The SEC just does not provide an opinion letter. And
so that's how we're addressing that, but the type of
activity happening in the states right now, um, that we're
following. And that's an example of, of governance. And as
a shareholder, making sure that we continue to have our
rights in this regard. So I do vote against one
director or sometimes it's multiple. It depends on first of
all, it depends on which directors are up for election.
Sometimes it's a stagger board. Sometimes it's, it's all, but
usually we won't vote against every single director on that
one issue. We will vote against perhaps the chair of
the governance. Or if there's a depending on what they're
removing from, from, from the ballot, it might be a
little bit more targeted, but typically be one or two
directors. I'm impactful. Do they care? Does do others do
the same thing? Cause to me, it's nice, nice to
do, but it's irrelevant to them. Right. Yeah. And absolutely.
And that's a great point. In Canada, we are a
large shareholder. So our vote is, is very impactful in
the US. You know, if we look at a large
company like Amazon, we're much smaller shareholder. And so if
we're voting against a particular director, the impact might not
be as big. But I will say directors really care
about their votes and they want to get as close
to, you know, 100 percent as possible. So I think
even a small delta for a director can be meaningful.
And typically, we will follow up and we will let
them know why. So that it's very, very clear that
this was the particular issue. And we do the same
on diversity as well in some of our organizations. If
we think that they're board diversity levels are not, um,
where they should be. And in particular, we look at
gender. We will look at the governance committee, uh, chair
and talk to them. But we want to make sure
they understand where our concerns are. So that's where engagement
becomes really, really important. Right. Just to follow up. So
does CCGG do this like as a group? Cause aren't
you more, more, um, meaningful if you're a group of
people doing the same thing? Or do you consult with
your peers on this or at all? Yeah. And so
CCGG is we are a member of CCGG. I'm on
the policy committee and somebody on my team is on
the environmental and social committee. And CCGG does do collaborative
engagements. We participate in them. I've done a number of
them with CCGG. We do about 1500 engagements a year.
So our numbers are vastly higher than what you could
do as a, as an organization. And when, and when
you do a collaborative organization, you representing the interests and
the views of everybody when we do one - on
- one engagement, we can really focus in on what
concerns us as a shareholder at that particular company. We
don't, uh, I would say the RI team, we will
do some engagements, but, but they're always in full communication
with the investment teams. And so usually it's us with
the investment teams, uh, sometimes we will do some collaborative
engagements like climate engagement Canada. For example, with other investors
and investment teams may not be aware, we're fully communicating
with them. What's happening, um, what's being addressed and what
was the outcome of it. So very, very close work
together. You can go to the next slide. So this
is active stewardship and we've spoken a little bit about
this. I did, I did speak to proxy voting engagement.
So these are the two different categories. Let's touch on
proxy voting. First, which is the way we vote our
proxies is, as I said before, we worked very closely
with the investment teams. We do have our own custom
guidelines, how we view things. For example, we want a
separate CEO and chair. We want the independent. We want
two thirds of the board to be independent. So we
have guidelines. We may override our own guidelines. If we
want to override our own guidelines, we have an independent,
sorry, I shouldn't say independent. We're all within GAM. We
have a, it's independent of the investment teams. We have
a committee set up. That's the CIO myself and three
others who are not on an investment team. And we
vote on whether we can, we should override a particular
matter. For example, if we are, um, looking at, uh,
CEO chair separation, we might allow an override for that
if the sunset clause in place. And it's the founder
of the company. And so we think that there's some
value in keeping this structure for a certain number of
years. And so we look at all of the circumstances
around it. And then we derive at our decision. And
then engagement, I've spoken to engagement, but we do, um,
quite, quite a bit of engagement around the firm. And
I will get into that in a little more detail.
If we could just go to the next slide. This
isn't, this is our engagement. It's 1500 engagements last year.
This is just where we're, you know, we're talking about
ESG, the investment teams a lot more. And so it's
a very, very important part of our process. Typically what
we're looking for is more information from the company. We
want to understand how they're thinking about some of these
issues. Or we're encouraging them to put this publicly out
there. And we've seen with Bill C59, we saw a
lot of companies looking at pulling back on some of
their disclosures and what this meant for them. And we're
always thinking about these different factors and within the company's
best interest. Because ultimately at the end of the day,
we are a shareholder. We want the company to do
well. You can go to the next slide. I've spoken
about this a little bit again, when we think about
our guidelines, which are publicly available on our website, when
we vote against a shareholder proposal, I will often get
a lot of questions. Well, this is in line with
your philosophy. You know, you're asking for a climate strategy
plan, for example. Well, why did you vote against it?
Well, we might vote against it if the language of
the ballot item is really prescriptive. It's telling how management,
how to do it. Um, or they're already doing it,
even though we agree with this, we think they're already
doing a good job. And we think it's confusing for
the company if we vote for this, um, because they
will reach out to us and say, why did you
vote for this? We're already doing this. Where's the gap
and what we're doing? And, you know, there is no
gap. We think we're fine with that. We don't think
the benefit or it's too burdensome. If it's too prescriptive,
but also if they're asking for something that's outside in
terms of the cost or the resource requirements, uh, relative
to the value. We can go to the next slide,
please. These are a statistics. And we put them up
there and, uh, sometimes ask, are we comfortable? Do we
like these statistics. Um, and the answer is it's hard
to know. I am very comfortable with these. And the
reason I am comfortable with them is I think if
we voted against management, all of the time, then we
would have to ask ourselves, why are we invested in
this company? Why don't we believe in management? I mean,
it's really important as a shareholder that we believe in,
in where management is headed, but sometimes we will vote
against management because sometimes things come up and we view
things differently. In the US, it's much higher. That is
typically due to CEO compensation where CEOs are paid much,
um, higher in the US than they are elsewhere in
the world. And next slide. And then this is the
last slide and this just shows the initiatives were involved
in CCGG was mentioned. Um, PRI responsible investment association is
in Canada. I chair the board of that organization. When
we are involved, we try to be very involved. We
like to have, um, an influential voice in, in this
space that we're helping guide where it's going. And not,
you know, with that, those are the end of my
slides, but I'm happy to take any questions. Board member,
penin. I've got a few questions. Um, you mentioned CEO
compensation as one issues where you may vote against management.
Is there any other issues that come up, I guess
for something you would want to vote against? I guess
management. Yes. Um, CEO compensation is one or we vote
against, we'll vote against the say on pay. In particular,
um, we vote against board members. For example, if we
don't think that they have enough gender diversity on the
board, that might be one reason. We might vote against
board members if we think that they're independents is not
where it should be. And typically it's two thirds is
what we would require in every, in some emerging markets,
that might differ, uh, and the requirements in some jurisdictions
like the UK where you're looking at 50 percent, the
norms relative to that, but generally speaking, we're looking for,
uh, two thirds, which independence. We might vote against the
director, as I mentioned before, if they have removed something
that we think would be appropriately on the ballot. Those
are sort of, I would say, oh, the separation of
chair and CEO, typically we like to see that separation.
We think, you know, when it's together, there's not that
independence, but we will make some accommodation for that if
it's a company where the founder is acting in that
role. And we think the value to that. We might,
but we do look for a sunset clause and those
circumstances. So those are the kinds of things we see.
Sometimes the auditor, the 10 year of the auditor might
come up. There might be some independence questions around the
auditor that we would look at as well. Um. Those
are generally speaking when we would vote against directors. Now
we do that is separate from the other part of
the ballot where we have all the shareholder proposals. And
those ones we might vote again, or we might vote
in favor of. And those are very specific. And a
lot of those have to do with G factors. For
example, you know, the asking for the company to produce,
uh, report on its human rights impacts. And sometimes they'll
say within a year, um, or covering this or, you
know, and that's where we get a little bit prescriptive.
And that's what sometimes we might say, well, actually, we
don't think that time frame is very reasonable. We're not
going to vote in favor of that. Or sometimes it
might just say something that's, that's broadly aligned with you.
And then so that's sort of the two sections that
we would see typically on the, on the ballot. Okay.
Um, seeing any, how is, how is viewpoints on ESG
trending like over the last 10 years? And does it
differ between what you're seeing in the Canadian market versus
the US market versus hidden much. They're much more engaged
in European markets on some of these factors than what
we see in North America, at least traditionally. Yes. Absolutely.
And actually that's where it's been very helpful to have
team and team members in the different jurisdictions. I mean,
to have their feed on the ground, um, Europe has,
has traditionally been further ahead, um, but I wouldn't, you
know, I'm always careful when I say that because when
I say further ahead, they've had a lot more regulation
in this space and they're more prescriptive in their regulation
and what the view is in terms of what is
good and what is bad in the ESG space and
what is acceptable if you have, for example, an ESG
labeled product or an ESG labeled fund. And we have
a lot more disclosures that we have to do in
Europe around our ESG factors in our funds under the
SFDR regulation. Um, but I always don't want to take
away from other jurisdictions that are doing a lot. The
US has gone in a different direction. And so the
US in itself is really split. And as shareholder rights
have become a big issue that we're focusing on in
the US, the not talk of climate change issues at
the federal level. But at the state level, there's a
lot of activity happening on climate change readiness. And so,
and, and the US, I would say if we're talking
about just regulation, no regulation is the way it's going.
In fact, now companies not getting an opinion letter from
the SEC. It's sort of in line with, but I
will say Europe's pulling back from the regulation and it's
pulling back from the prescriptiveness because I think it's just
been so onerous for asset managers and asset owners and,
and companies to make all of these disclosures that the
pullback and just a little bit of a sense check
of, is this, is this helping people? This is helping
investors, um, understand these issues better. So we are seeing
that in Europe, but I think sentiment remains the same.
Um, so a little bit is more about how it's
being spoken of. And Canada always is, is a little
bit in the middle. Um, I would say we are
influenced by our neighbor to the south. But I think,
and we don't have the same regulation as Europe. So
we're not quite as far as Europe, but there was
a lot of discussion about enhanced disclosures in Canada. I
think Canada always is just a very practical, you know,
what do investors want. Let's be really practical in making
sure they get those disclosures in a way that's not
too onerous or too prescriptive or too prescriptive. So that's
where, you know, clients in Canada are still asking for
it. They still want to understand these issues, but it's
not, you know, at the same level of, of detail,
maybe that in the past, we've seen in Europe. But
it is a, it is a, you know, I used
to say the pendulum is swinging back, but it's sort
of swinging everywhere right now. I remember ready. Actually, my
question was addressed. Oh, okay. Thanks. One more. Do you
have more? Okay. Board member company, sure. I have to
ask. So just because it's, it's kind of in spot
right now. The greenwashing case with purpose. I don't know
if. Comments or anything you would want to say about
that. No, I mean, it's a very relevant case. I
would just say, um, it probably won't comment on the
details of that particular case because I, and I also
don't know the details of that particular case, but I
would just maybe comment on how we've thought about it.
And we've certainly been, you know, very in depth with
as a regulations have changed. How are we wording certain
things? Are we still being clear and transparent for investors?
And we've always tried to strive for clear transparency and
not over promising. We've never used, and in fact, when
I, when I, you know, seven years ago, it used
to be a kind of a hot thing, a hot,
a little bit contentious with myself in marketing where they
would want to put out stronger marketing language around this.
And we would say, no, um, pull it back in
a little bit because we want to be really clear.
We always say that it is, we strive for better
risk and return over the long run. But there's really
like the studies around this. It's, it's hard to sort
of put your finger on exactly how will this play
out, but we do deeply believe it is part of
our philosophy that if we are looking at these material
factors, how can it not impact your long, um, performance?
So I'll just maybe without commenting on that particular case,
just say that we try to be as transparent and
clear as possible and not make any, you know, any
promises or commitments that we're not, that we're not doing.
Else. I remember jobs. Just, and this is something just
came up again in the media with the SpaceX thing
and musk having control and voting shares as opposed to
other shares of being offered. Are you seeing more or
less of those structures and what's your view on them.
We like to have one vote per share. We think
that that's, you know, in terms of governance practice, that's
the way it should, it should be. We don't like,
um, to have different structures where we have tiered levels
of shares. We do understand that when companies first go
public, you need some incentive. And so you can't entirely
get away from some of these structures. There is a
reason that they're in place. We do want more companies
coming to the public markets. That's, you know, that's where
we are. Uh, and so we don't want to completely
that. And founders put a lot of their own time
and resource. There's a lot that goes into the research
and development. And so you want people to be compensated
for those efforts. But we do want to see that,
that roll off. And we do want one vote per
share as a shareholder. It gives us more, um, more
influence on what we want to see with the company.
And we do see it, you know, I mean, you
see it more, you see a lot in the tech
space, you know, and you've given Elon Musk as an
example where a lot of money can go into some
of the research and development and they want to be
compensated. And so what does that look like? And can
you have a sunset clause on some of these shares?
Uh, because we do find ourselves trapped in some of
these interesting situations where we have a vote, but it
really is not meaningful because, you know, it's, it's, it's,
you know, somebody else has much more of a stake
in it. Board member Fraser. Thank you. Um, thank you
for the presentation. Just a quick question. Uh, you provided
sort of example of the ESG snapshot sort of addresses.
But how is this used within the firm? Both of
the investment manager level and maybe that the committee level.
It is used by the investment teams. And so this
is a particular snapshot where they're thinking about an investment
or looking at their portfolio. They can pull it up
and they can get the relevant ESG metrics and information
that they need similar to the climate snapshot if they
wanted to look at what are their emissions. Same idea,
but it's a little bit more broadly speaking around ESG.
My firm. It's an aggregation of all the firms of
them holdings within the portfolio. By fun. Yes. By fund.
Yeah. And is there sort of a senior committee then
sort of monitors the investment managers to find out if
they're really offside benchmark. With effectively, let's say the ESG
score? Well with not none of our mandates are a
portfolios have that as a target. Their performance is the
target and none of them have any restrictions except for
the vision funds where you cannot be, they cannot be
invested in certain, um, industries or certain product level developments,
but we don't have one group that looks at everything,
but we do have, several mechanisms in place. So one
is we were closely with the risk team and we
do, uh, semi annual semi annual report that looks at
all of our high risk industries, our high risk countries.
And we, we lay it all out for the CIO,
but also it goes into the head of risk for
all the wealth management at RBC to show where we
are in some of these particular industries. There are some,
but we don't go through at a fun level and
say this, this particular holding is really high in its
emissions. But we have, for example, climate engagement plan where
we, we have looked at our top 40 highest emitting
companies and how we've engaged with them and how we've,
we've discussed this with them and whether we have any
concerns. So it's more on these, you know, this level.
I would say probably the semi annual report that we
do is the most comprehensive, but on a fun level,
that's, that's more done by the investment teams as well
as the RA team together, but more on a ad
hoc basis. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to
check in with board member Deed. I board member, daddy,
I can't see you ask green, but I know you
know a lot about this issue. So I just want
to check in to see if you had any questions.
Oh, thank you for, no, I'm fine. Thank you, Chair
Hughes. Yep. Okay. Thanks. Anyone else. Then, um, thank you
very much, Ms. Adams. Great presentation and you could tell
the global of interest from all the questions. And now
can I have a motion to receive the presentation. What
more like when makes that motion on favor, please raise
your hands. When you posed. It, that carries. All right.
Thank you very much. Thank you so much. So now
we are at. I think this would be a good
time to break for lunch. So let's allow 45 minutes
for lunch, let's say. A closed session. We're hoping to
start around one. So we have a couple of reports
to do first before that. So, uh, if someone was
to offer motion, thank you for numerogyles offers a motion
to break for lunch. All in favor, please raise your
hands and you posed. At Jerry. Okay. So we'll start
for 40. And then it's going to say 1250. Back
at 1250 everybody. Big lunch is ready for us. I
would in the lobby area out there. And you'll.
Thank you. For ready to start again everyone.
So board members, we are on item number nine C
now, which is the 2026 investment plan reviewed for a
number of municipalities. Aurora Clarington Central Front in that Huntsville
and innocence six of them. Any questions on these investment
plans. People are comfortable. The only comment
I would make, I just wanted to command staff. The
format of the report, it's very helpful to do a
whole bunch of investment plans this way. So thank you.
For a good approach to. All right, could I have
a motion to adopt the following recommendations in the report?
So number one, receive the investment policy statement and municipal
client questionnaires from the following participating municipality, summarized in the
table that you see in your agendas. So for town
of worm, you study of clarity. So maybe I'll just
mention the MNRI values for each of them. Time of
Aurora, 58, 144, 864 dollars, municipality of clinic to 23,
968, 461 dollars, township of central frontnack, 3, 784, 080
dollars. 68, 575, 864 dollars.
And then number two, approve the following investment plans, which
are summarized in the table before. And again, I will
just mention the model. So town of Aurora, which is
invested in model E, municipality of Clarington, invested in mono
G plus. So that's with although township of central front
neck. Tonight, console, Mahmoudi, town of Innisville Model C. So
I'm going to let them make that motion. Board member.
I like them to make that motion. I'll in favor,
please raise your hands. Can you posed that carries? Just
a question. Doesn't change the vote or anything. In terms
of, as we grow, and the more and more on
the list grows, what is the, how do you check
for consistency among plans. Sorry, what was the question? It's
just like, we, you know, when we look at plans,
we sort of like, do we take the weighted average
of the charity schedule. Or new requirement for money versus
the weight? So that, you know, if you're looking, if
you do it, you know that these are generally in
the same range. They're in this plan. And then if
there's any deviation, which there should be, or may not
be, but you can document this as why they're not
sort of in line. So that someone who has a
weighted average of seven years is in a model F
than someone within weighted average of 25 years is in
model G. You know what I mean? Like that. Because
soon the list will be 20 long that you're looking
at, you know, as you become more successful. Without having
to look at individuals. You need to have a consistency,
I think. Make sure that those models. I think that
it's the time horizons are the first determinant of models.
And then the adjustments. So do you have a plan
to make sure you're consistent as this plan grows? That
absolutely ensures that. We start with the old outcome framework,
which gives a starting point. We figure out what the,
uh, the outcome framework would have suggested as a consolidated,
um, allocation. And then I, I take, um, actually, uh,
target date bonus, external target tape bonds to give an
indication of what would be appropriate based on different investment
horizons. And I just line them up on the graph
and I can say that that floor from this investment
horizon, if the average is seven, it should be this
allocation. And, um, I mean, it's very succinct. And then
I'll have, uh, notes in there that would qualify when
we're off the line. So I absolutely have that. Um,
I think it would be instructive, uh, somewhere down the
line that we have in educational session. So I can
go through, uh, the things that I look at and
the double checks. And so you, you have confidence that,
that I'm just not picking numbers out of the air,
uh, G sounds like a good number. Let's put them
in G. No, there is a process there. Absolutely. And
I also do, I mean, there is some qualitative, it's
not just the numbers. The quality of the numbers is
also factored in there. Um, the, the detail that the,
the treasurer's provide us. And, um, that will also factor
in some people might say that, you know, it's gotten
eight year horizon based on what they have. And do
I have faith in their numbers? They seem, are they,
are they, um. Are they putting their thumb on the
scale to be more conservative with their numbers than, than,
than reality is. I try to make some qualifications in
there. But yeah, so we're not strictly putting the numbers
and putting them on the line. Um, there is, um,
some level of evaluation. And it's that there is a
qualitative factor. They get measured in. Member. I'm sorry. I
was too slow in putting my hand up when you
asked her questions previously. Um, just a quick point of
clarification. Um, in the municipal client questionnaire, uh, questionnaires, Clarenrington
and inniceville both answered yes to question 5. 6, which
is, does your current municipal forecast include any large or
unusual capital expenditures? And I'm just wondering if staff have
any insight as to what those unusual or large capital
expenditures are. So for Clarington, uh, their counsel's a bit
on a spending spree. They've got various building expansions and
new community brink center proposed. So in a lot of
that money is falling into MNRI, but is, um, is
either in progress or is starting to become in progress.
So there's got significant growth going on and go to.
And they're managing based on their structure. They've got multiple
downtown course. Right. So there it's not just one municipality.
It's a bunch of municipalities that came together to pick
up there. Uh, Ined spille is again, undergrowth very similar.
So growth related expansion projects. Um, orbit project is it
did one. I mean, we were there last September and
we, uh, they told us about all the third body
be spending. That is why their investment horizon, if anything
is growing shorter because they have, they gave us a
good lump of money when they joined the one ship.
And now it's coming clear that they're going to need
some of that to build, uh, some of the, uh,
deepest structure. That within it fills this matter of when
will they actually need to draw down those funds, but
they cannot yet clarify. But yeah, that was, that's helpful.
Thank you. Yeah, I think within us, an issue around
the timing of a ghost station related to orbital. Is
that right? Yeah. So, um, it could be longer, could
be shorter. When they actually need to spend money. Um,
the only other thing I want to add to the
commentary just following up on board member Leckman's point is,
um, I think, uh, this report, Mr. Taylor, had the
best explanation yet of the process. So thank you for
that. That was good. So now we're on to item
9D. And I think it would be more appropriate for
us to consider this item after the closed session given
the recommendation. So I'm going to ask for a motion
to defer consideration of this item until after the post
session. Some like to make that motion. Lots of people
are volunteering. Let's say board member ready makes that motion.
All in favor, please raise your hands. There's okay. Thank
you. I think that makes a lot more sense. Um,
now let's move to vitamin 10 A, which should not
be too difficult. Uh, this is proposing that we moved
the agenda date for the date for the September meeting.
So any concerns or problems that people have.
So there's no further discussion. And could I have a
motion that the board of Dr. Recognition report to reschedule
its meetings currently set for Thursday, September 3rd, 2026. Thursday,
September 10th, 2026 at the MO offices begin the attend
as we usually did. So I'll make that motion. Tracer
makes that motion on favor. Please raise your hands. Any
opposed that carries. Great. You don't have any reports under
strategy. A policy today. So I think we are now
ready for a close session. Okay. We have three items
listed for our closed session discussion. The first relates to
confidential presentation from Echler Limited that contains commercial or financial
information that belongs to the board under subsection 239 to
subsections 239 21 J. That's two I and J of
the misspal act. And we have two education sessions under
section 239 3. 1 of the act. And they relate
to educating board members on syncing funds and providing an
update on municipalities that are in the pipeline to join
the prudent investor program. And there are a few which
is encouraging. So can I have a motion to move
into closed session for the purpose of receiving confidence. To
move into closed session for the purpose of receiving commercial
or financial under subsections 239 to INJ at the missile
act and holding education sessions on syncing funds and a
pipeline update under section 239 3. 1 after miss will
act board member PIMCO makes that motion. Okay. Carries. Okay.
So we're going to have a brief recess as we
transition to the closed session. If anybody said quick break
the time now and, uh, daddy, we'll need to move
over to this front. Oh, maybe not if she's on
the phone. But anyway, I will. Okay. Thanks. We're moving
into closed session now. And then we'll come back to
make public motions follow in the closed session. Okay. So
quick transition. And then we'll get going.
Okay, okay. So could I have a motion that the
board received the confidential presentation from the closed session. And
from the closed education session that relate to items 12A,
12B and 12C on the agenda. Vice Chair James makes
that motion all in favor. Please raise your hands. Any
opposed that carries. And now we're moving back to agenda
item 9D. So if there's no discussion on the report,
that's on discussioning closed. Could I have a motion to
adopt the following recommendation? The report approved the continuation of
pH and then institutional as the external investment manager. Board
member John makes that motion. I'll in favor. Please raise
your hands. Any opposed. Tered. No other business from board
members or staff. I can include the meeting lookups in
a minute of me saying them all. Sure. Okay. So
I'm going to skip the meeting outcomes. For now. And
so it doesn't include it in the minutes. All right.
So media outcomes will be included in the minutes. And
I have a motion that the appropriate staff of one
jib and one investment be given the authority to do
all things necessary, including executing and documents to give effect
to the board's decisions today. I remember really makes that
motion on favorite. Please lose your hands. On your pose.
Bacterias. And I have a motion to adjourn. I remember
we might. Kessel makes that motion. I'll in favor of
these raise your hands. You that carries our next meeting
is on September 10th, 2026 at 10 a. m. here
at the MO office. Thank you everyone. Have a great
summer and the board stands adjourned off.