Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to this Annual General Meeting of shareholders of The North West Company. My name is Sandy Riley, I'm a director of The North West Company and Chairman of the Board. I'd like to start off by acknowledging that we are gathered on ancestral lands on Treaty 1 territory. These lands are the heartland of the Métis people, we acknowledge that our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation. We're pleased to host today's meeting through a virtual meeting platform accessible to all our shareholders, regardless of physical location to participate, submit questions, and vote. I'm gonna act as chairman of today's meeting, I'm now gonna call to order. Good morning and welcome. Before we begin, I'd like to advise shareholders that after 14 years of service as Chairman of The North West Company, I'm retiring from the board at this meeting. I'm delighted that following this meeting, Brock Bulbuck, former Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Auto Body and a member of our board for four years, will be elected as the new chairman. Brock brings a wealth of business and board experience to this role, and I know he will work very effect-- both the board and with our CEO, Dan McConnell. I really enjoyed my years at North West, working with the many wonderful women and men who have served on this board with me over the years. I've been continually impressed with the passion and commitment of Nor'Westers, particularly in difficult times such as those we have experienced in the last two years. My retirement, which was delayed for a year, completes a well-thought-out transition process at both the board and senior management levels of the company. The most significant part of this process was the appointment of Dan McConnell this past year as Chief Executive Officer of the company. The board has worked closely with Dan during this transition, which has included the recruitment of a number of new members to the senior management ranks of North West, and the board is very excited at the enthusiasm and vision that Dan and his team have brought to their new roles. Finally, on a personal level, I wanna say how much I've learned during my years at North West from our people and our communities. I've come to appreciate and value the important and historical role excuse me, that our company plays, not only in Canada's North but also in Alaska, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. In an era of reconciliation with our Indigenous peoples, The North West Company is helping to build the capacities of the communities in which we operate and establish bridges between our Indigenous peoples and other parts of our country. Our company is much more than a supplier of products and services. For me, it's been a great privilege to have had the unique opportunity to be of service, not just to our shareholders, but to our communities. I'd now like to introduce the people joining me at the head table. To my left is Dan McConnell, President and Chief Executive Officer and Director. Also at the head table is Amanda Sutton, Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary. I appoint Amanda to act as secretary for the meeting. Christine Colesso of TSX Trust Company will act as scrutineer for the meeting. I'll now ask Amanda Sutton to read a notice regarding forward-looking statements. Thank you. Certain information presented today may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect North West's current expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, which could cause actual performance and financial results in the future to vary materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements. For additional information on these risks, please see North West's annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors". This presentation will also refer to EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted net earnings, which are not recognized financial measures under International Financial Reporting Standards. North West's method of calculating these measures may differ from other companies and may not be comparable to measures used by other companies. For further information, please see North West's Annual Report under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures". Thank you, Amanda. I'd now ask the secretary to report on attendance. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have been advised by the scrutineers that there are present by proxy a sufficient number of persons holding a sufficient number of shares entitled to vote at the meeting to constitute a quorum. As there is a quorum present, the meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. A notice calling the meeting, together with a form of proxy, management information circular and proxy statement, an annual report containing the financial statements of The North West Company Inc. for the year ended January 31, 2022, and the related auditor's report were provided to each intermediary and registered shareholder of record on the record date for the meeting. We received an affidavit of mailing from TSX Trust Company, North West's transfer agent, confirming the mailing of the notice. Voting on the items of business to come before today's meeting is being conducted by poll via a single electronic ballot that is now available on the web portal. Only registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders are able to vote or ask questions. Voting can only be done through the virtual voting platform on the webcast. If you're a registered shareholder or proxy holders and wish to vote, click the Voting icon at the top of the webcast page. Voting can be completed at any time from now until the polls are closed at the end of the formal business of the meeting. If you've already voted in advance of the meeting and do not wish to change your vote, you don't need to vote again during the meeting. The polls are now open. Questions can also be submitted through the webcast platform. If you're a registered shareholder or proxy holders and wish to ask a question, click the Question icon at the top of the webcast page, type in your question in the text box at the bottom of the messaging screen, and then click the Send. If your question relates to a specific motion, please start your question by identifying the motion. We will respond to questions relating to specific motions before the closing of the polls, and we'll save all other questions for the general question and answer session at the end of the presentations. Following the formal portion of the meeting, we will receive the questions and read them out in order for everyone to be aware of the question being addressed. If we have a number of questions that are the same or very similar, we will consolidate the questions. We'll endeavor to address all general questions. However, please note that due to time constraints, we may not be able to do so. If you have a question, we encourage you to submit them now, and questions can be submitted throughout the meeting. A bit about the format of today's meeting. We're gonna deal first with the formal requirements of the meeting, and thereafter, McConnell will provide his insights on all the important facets of our business' performance and potential, including our people in the communities we serve. I'd now like to introduce all the members of the board of directors who will be standing for election this year. Brock Bulbuck is from Winnipeg and is the past Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Group Services, Inc. As I've mentioned, is my successor as chairman. Deepak Chopra is from Toronto and is the past President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Post. Frank Coleman is from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and runs one of Canada's last remaining regional food retailers based in Western Newfoundland and Labrador, not surprisingly known as Coleman Foods. Stewart Glendinning is from Ocean Ridge, Florida, and is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tyson Foods. Stewart is the chair of our Governance and Nominating Committee. Annalisa King, who's the Chair of our Audit Committee, is from Vancouver and is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Best Buy Canada. Vi Konkle is from Fenwick, Ontario, and is past President and Chief Executive Officer of The Brick Limited. Vi is also the Chair of our Compensation Committee. Steven Kroft is from Winnipeg and is the past Chief Executive Officer of C.E.L. Group of Companies now serving as its Executive Chairman. Jennefer Nepinak is from Winnipeg and is the prior Associate Vice President, Indigenous Engagement at the University of Winnipeg. Victor Tootoo is from Iqaluit, Nunavut, and is the Vice President of nvision Insight Group. Of course, there's our Chief Executive Officer, Dan McConnell. We are recommending you reelect the aforementioned directors to our board. With those comments, I'd now like to move to the part of the meeting. The first item of business is the presentation of the consolidated financial statements of The North West Company Inc. for the year ended January 31, 2022, and the related auditor's report. A copy of the financial statements was made available to all shareholders with the notice of meeting. Shareholders are not asked to take any action regarding the financial statements, but if any shareholder has questions relating to the financial statements, I'd request that they be asked later in the meeting after Dan completes his presentation. The next item of business, the election of directors of The North West Company for the ensuing year. Apart from the directors listed in the Management Information Circular and proxy statement for this meeting, and who I've introduced previously, no additional individuals have been nominated for election. I'll now entertain a motion with respect to the election of directors. Kevin Wasiluk, Canadian Operations Controller, has been asked to place before the meeting the names of those persons proposed to be nominated for election as directors. Pam Pronyk, International Operations Controller, has been asked to second the motion. I move that each of the persons whose names are listed under the heading "Election of Directors" in the Management Information Circular, who are Brock Bulbuck, Deepak Chopra, Frank Coleman, Stewart Glendinning, Annalisa King, Violet Konkle, Steven Kroft, Daniel McConnell, Jennefer Nepinak, and Victor Tootoo, be elected as directors of The North West Company Inc. for the ensuing year or until their successors are appointed. Thank you, Kevin. I second the motion. Thank you, Pam. Please cast your votes before we move on to the next item. Okay, we're now going to proceed with the appointment of auditors and the authorization of the board of directors to fix their remuneration. Kevin, may I have a motion to appoint the auditors of The North West Company, and Pam, could you please second that motion? I move that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP be appointed as the auditors of The North West Company Inc. to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successor is duly appointed and that the Board of Directors be authorized to fix their remuneration. Thank you, Kevin. I second the motion. Thanks, Pam. Please cast your votes before we move on to the next item. Okay, we're now going to consider a non-binding advisory vote on the approach to executive compensation, which was outlined in the 2022 Management Information Circular that was previously sent to all shareholders. Kevin, may I have a motion regarding the compensation of North West executives, please? Pam, could you please second the motion? I move that on an advisory basis and not to diminish the roles and responsibilities of the board, that the shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation disclosed in The North West Company's 2022 Management Information Circular delivered in advance of this 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Thanks, Kevin. I second the motion. Thank you, Pam. We'll now take a short pause to answer any motion-specific questions that have been submitted and to permit any registered shareholder or proxy holder who's not already done so to record their votes on the motions before the meeting. Okay, having received no questions, I'm gonna close the polls in 30 seconds or shorter. Okay. The polls are now closed. Do you have a preliminary report for me? Thank you. Great. Yeah. Okay. Everything's fine. I've now received the preliminary scrutineers report. With respect to the election of directors, I'm advised by the scrutineers that each of the proposed nominees has been duly elected. With respect to the resolutions to appoint the auditors and the non-binding executive compensation, I'm advised by the scrutineers that these resolutions have also been duly carried. The detailed results of this meeting will be announced in a press release and also included in a voting report to be filed on SEDAR as soon as practical after this meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, we've now completed the formal part of the meeting. On behalf of management and the board of directors, I'd like to thank you for attending today. Now we're going to have a short video, and then I'm gonna call on Daniel McConnell to say a few words. You know, the last couple of years have been so difficult for all of us right around the world. It's so exciting now at The North West Company as we begin to really focus on building our logistics capability, our store network, our product assortment, and our services assortment to really meet the needs of our communities, not only for today but for the future. Hello from Barbados. For many years, we've enjoyed serving our island communities and providing a wide variety of fresh grocery and general merchandise that our customers can depend on to run their households and businesses. We've done this through two strong and unique store concepts, Cost-U-Less, our warehouse- club format, and RiteWay Food Markets, our conventional grocery store concept. We also serve many business customers across our markets, helping their communities to win and prosper. We're fully committed to continue this work, but also to growing our business. We're really excited by these opportunities and the next phase of growth for the company. Across the organization, we are focused on people. We believe in creating value for communities by providing meaningful employment and helping develop our workforce through quality jobs, training, education, and career paths. Last year, our store leaders in training completed 2,500 learning modules focused on diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, and racism in Canada. We also work to connect employees to their talents as a key driver of how we invest in our team members. Developing teams where employees are heard, respected, and included is a value for us and is a fundamental to creating an inclusive experience. By providing quality jobs, training, and career paths, we develop great talent. Our purpose as a company is making people's lives better in the communities we serve, and that's more than just running stores. You know, I think back just even the last year, whether it's support for isolation kits that really had food and baby supplies that we provided to people who had to stay in their homes in the communities that had COVID-19 outbreaks. Whether it's supporting the Red Cross by having pickup kits for evacuees from fires in northern Canada that were in Winnipeg and needed food and baby supplies, and they could pick it up at our distribution center in Winnipeg. Whether it's floods or fires which are unfortunately so common in many of the communities we serve, we're there because we live there too. We are part of the community, and we're more than just a store. There we go. North West community support is an important aspect of the work that we do, and it is essential to fulfilling our commitment to positively affecting the lives of the people we serve every day. In 2021, we made some significant advancements in our community support donations and charitable giving. As a company, we contributed over CAD 2.1 million to nonprofit food banks and community partners. The Healthy Horizons Foundation achieved a record for grants approved for funding in a single year, funding CAD 429,000 in support of healthy living programming for children and youth in the remote communities we're proud to serve. Our collective journey in the area of truth and reconciliation has been at the heart of our community support efforts. We took part in the very first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by launching a brand-new initiative. In partnership with Dreamcatcher Promotions, an Indigenous-owned and operated apparel company, we've been working closely with Indigenous communities to develop new initiatives that will help us do our part to continue to advance reconciliation as a company. We're looking forward to rolling out these new initiatives in the days to come. Here in Alaska, the AC Banner had an extremely successful 2021 year with record sales and notable achievements across the company. One signature accomplishment in 2021 was the opening of three new stores. The first in Skagway, a tourism-driven community in Southeast Alaska. The second in Galena, a community of 600 people in the interior. Finally, Gambell on St. Lawrence Island in northwestern Alaska, only a few dozen miles from the border with Russia. More stores means more career paths for store managers, department managers, and other employees, which will lead to better retention and long-term sustainability for the company. Another achievement in 2021 was running the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program here in Alaska, where AC delivered 3.3 million pounds of federally funded food to 100 villages across Alaska. This program both increased food security in rural Alaska and contributed to public health and nutrition across the state. The Health Extension Services team is focused on improving health within the communities we serve by bringing expanded health services to the people that need it most. This past year, we partnered with two global health companies that improved patient outcomes. iMD Health, a software and services company, provides the necessary education and resource materials to our physicians and pharmacists that aid in assisting the increase of patient understanding of their medical conditions and medical adherence. We also partnered with MedMonitor in collaboration with humanisRx. This program was deployed in Cross Lake, Manitoba. It identifies patients who are at risk for poor health outcomes, enabling the clinical team to provide a care plan that will improve their health. We're building partnerships to improve lives. With more than 225 stores and over 6,000 employees globally, we have an extraordinary opportunity to have an impact on people. We believe that a diversity of backgrounds, opinions, and perspectives, and a culture of inclusion helps create a healthy and dynamic workplace. We recognize that supporting a diverse workplace is a business imperative that helps us attract and retain the most talented individuals. We know at the very heart of our company lies our people. They are passionate and committed, and it's through their efforts we are able to build for the future. Great. Okay. I'm gonna invite Daniel McConnell to come up here and say a few words about the past year. Before doing so, I wanna make sure you all understand that any questions you may have, we invite you to ask them, and we'll try and answer them after Dan's presentation has concluded. You're welcome to submit any questions at any time during the presentations by typing in the question in the box displayed on the screen and clicking the Submit button. Dan, over to you. Thank you, Sandy. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our annual shareholders meeting. Well, it's an honor to be here at my first AGM as the CEO. Today, The North West Company has a renewed commitment to its purpose: making lives better in the communities we serve. I say this with conviction, especially as I look back and see how much we have accomplished after a second pandemic year. To fulfill this purpose, we have been focused on our core business, on what we stand for as a company, our North West brand, and how best to deliver our value proposition for all stakeholders. More about that in a minute. Before I do anything else, I would like to acknowledge and thank Sandy for his leadership and commitment to The North West Company over the past 19 years. Sandy is a highly regarded business leader in Canada. He could be credited for assembling a fantastic team of accomplished leaders to serve on the directors over the last number of years. We definitely have been fortunate to benefit from his knowledge and experience on our board. Again, I would like to thank you, Sandy, for your commitment. Our company has a rich history, a compelling story. It starts with our people. Thousands of team members across the organization that go above and beyond to welcome and serve our customers every day. They are the backbone. They are the customer-driven leaders that work with passion to us, the trusted community store. For our people at North West, we strive to be a preferred place to work. Here, we believe you can give a very special purpose to that work and make people's lives better. This is why we exist, to serve our customers and communities by providing a wide array of products and services for their everyday needs at the best local value. For our shareholders, we strive to deliver risk-adjusted top quartile total returns over a long term. We are confident in the strength of our business, and we will continue to provide returns to our shareholders through dividends, share buybacks, and through stock appreciation. One of our core values that has defined us through our history as Nor'westers is having an enterprising spirit. Today, this enterprising spirit is strong, with it, we're spearheading our growth efforts. In 2021, we expanded our new retail footprint with new stores and new concepts. In Iqaluit, Nunavut, we opened a new store called Inuulisautinut Niuvirvik. The name means a place to get things for a healthy body and mind. This is a new concept store. It includes healthier grocery options and a Booster Juice and a full-time pharmacy and optical services. The community has received it with excitement for all the new services and healthy options it has to offer, as well as for the local employment opportunities. In our Canadian business, Quickstop convenience stores were opened in Rankin Inlet and in Clyde River. New pharmacy was opened in our Valu- Lots store in Prince Albert. Our approach as new opportunities like these are identified has been to calibrate what is the best format depending on our customer profile and our investment return requirements. We've had very good results so far, and we'll continue to incorporate the learnings of these successful projects to tap into future expansion opportunities. In the same train of thought, in the British Virgin Islands, we transformed the old cash and carry store into a newly designed Rite Way Home store. This creates what we believe is the island's premier place to shop for general merchandise and home goods. It also includes select Club Pack items in the center store categories, which with a much more focused assortment. In Alaska, we opened stores in three new markets in 2021, Skagway, Galena, and Gambell. These markets fit very well with our current AC formats and align well for us to continue Moving with Purpose, pursue growth of our retail footprint. The communities have welcomed us and are enthusiastic to have an Alaska Commercial Company store for the first time. Expanding our footprint in the Alaska market is our strategic focus for the next couple of years. We have identified that there are several rural markets just like these that would benefit from having an AC store. We expect to continue opening three to four stores a year and expand our presence as the trusted retailer and wholesaler for all rural Alaska. Our Gambell, Alaska store is an example. The ATVs parked outside the store really showcase life in our northern communities. In fact, there's only one truck within the community, and that is ours. We brought it in in order to effectively transport our product from the airport to the store. Not only is our enterprising spirit strong by growing and improving our traditional retail footprint, but our new improved services are also part of this growing trend. We increased telepharmacy to 64 contracts compared to 51 last year. We continue to build capabilities in this front, bringing virtual clinical health to First Nation communities. This was to ensure we could provide our pharmacists and physicians with education resources in order to improve the services delivered to the communities we serve. Over the past two years, we have also leveraged our supply chain and logistics capabilities to expand our B2B sales. At the onset of the pandemic, we started supplying essential products and personal protective equipment to local governments and hospitals. Given the supply chain constraints and mobility restrictions at the time, we found ourselves in a unique position to help by using our logistic capabilities in ways that others simply couldn't. We built food hampers for communities in Canada like Portage La Loche, Rankin Inlet, and Moose Lake, just to name a few. In our Cost-U-Less banners, we expanded our beverages B2B relationships to neighboring islands throughout the Pacific. In some of our Alaska markets, we provided breakfast, lunch boxes, and produce to schools. For other B2B customers, we have been a major provider of products from refrigerators and cleaning supplies to groceries and beverages. We delivered 3 million pounds of fresh food to 115 communities in Alaska through the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The food boxes were allocated between rural villages and urban centers across Alaska and delivered free of charge to tribal governments, food banks, churches, and other nonprofits who manage the distribution to families. This is a great story. It showcases our core capabilities in logistics and supply chain, delivering on our promise to help people live better in the communities we serve. These actions have not only strengthened our relationships with the communities we serve, but they also reinvigorate our purpose as an organization. With each order we delivered, we not only continued to build trust with our customers, but also discovered new market opportunities that leverage our capabilities to expand services across our Canadian and international networks. Together, with a renewed focus on B2B, it's worth highlighting e-commerce and its role on enabling sales. We relaunched our provisioning e-commerce website in the British Virgin Islands in Q4 of last year. On its first phase, the website is mostly focusing on servicing boats and charters during the high tourist season, which is between October and March. Keep in mind that the pandemic really took a toll on tourism in the islands in 2020 and 2021. While it's still early, e-commerce trends have been positive. Customer counts increased approximately 43%, and baskets are above by 9% compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels. This is still a small but growing part of our business, and we're optimistic about the potential for this business as long as tourism continues on the same positive trend throughout the remainder of the year. For The North West Company, e-commerce efforts will continue later this year. The Alaska Commercial banner will launch its brand-new platform to not only serve customers in rural communities where we currently do not have stores, but to also complement our current B2B business. Now in order to support these growing trends in new stores, new products and services, B2B, and e-commerce, operational excellence throughout our chain, throughout our value chain, is necessary to deliver on our promise to our customers and to our shareholders. Operational excellence through better in-store assortment and execution will be a top priority. Our teams have been paying special attention to data-driven store process improvements, training, and store execution compliance to drive productivity. This includes capital investment in our stores with renovations that were postponed during the pandemic. Our supply chain and logistics capabilities are instrumental to keeping the shelves stocked with food and other products our customers rely on, particularly during the times of global disruptions. Given the fact that we operate in underserved, hard-to-reach locations, this becomes even more important. As I mentioned in my message in the annual report, the pandemic and supply chain disruptions had the potential of putting at risk our ability to be in stock. We partnered with our vendors, transportation companies, and community organizations to ensure we maintain a strong in-stock position on the essential items our customers depend on. We also focused on advancing our purchase of inventory across the network to avoid potential supply chain congestion, the impact of extended lead times, and to capitalize on lower freight costs of less expensive modes of transport, like the winter road and the sealift. All these efforts and initiatives are continuing in 2022 as the supply chain challenges linger on, fueled not only by the pandemic but by the lockdown situation in China and also the war in Ukraine. We'll continue to invest in enhancing our supply chain capabilities. For example, last year we secured an additional warehouse in Winnipeg to help optimize our ability to move heavy and high cube merchandise to our stores using the lower freight cost winter road network. This has a double effect of allowing us to control costs better and ultimately offer better prices to our customers. Similarly, NSSI, our sealift shipping partner, has a new home in Bécancour, Quebec. Having control of an airline is an important component of our logistics capability and is a competitive advantage in our northern Canadian stores. Optimizing our air cargo capabilities continues to be a priority. North Star Air's cargo aircraft utilization rates exceed annual targets last year and has delivered consistent service to Northern Canada stores and to external customers, especially during the challenging pandemic environment. The operational efficiencies in cargo handling and freight savings have been achieved by strong teamwork between our airline and our logistics teams in the Canadian operation. This includes our next-gen efficiency initiative through the implementation of the lighter plastic pallet program and the double-decker trucks that facilitate warehouse-to-plane ready loads and investment in expanded hangar facilities. In the Q4 2021, an ATR 72-500 series aircraft was configured and modified to include a large door. This enabled loading and unloading efficiencies and provides NSA with greater flexibility to offer cargo services for larger items. We're certain this will not only provide efficiencies on our own cargo, but also on third-party cargo services that we do provide. The flexibility and agility provided by operating our own airline is not only a key factor contributing to our stores being in stock, but has also allowed us to help the communities we serve in other very meaningful ways. An example that showcases this commitment occurred in October 2021, when a state of emergency was declared and Iqaluit residents were warned that local water supplies was unsafe for consumption. Our support office, warehouse, and airline teams partnered to swiftly respond and begin the process of moving over 112,000 pounds of water into the market. During this past year, we were focused on our purpose, our core business, our people, and the customers and communities we serve. This allowed us to deliver strong financial results. Net earnings in 2021 increased 10% to CAD 157 million. We're up over 80% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Now I want to share some color around our first quarter results that were issued earlier today. In terms of sales, we are holding our ground against some strong results last year, particularly when considering that the communities we serve have lower government income support and less travel restrictions compared to just a year ago. First quarter sales were up 0.2% this year, but were down 0.7% on a same-store basis. For context, in Q1 last year, same-store sales had an increase of 3.8% on top of a 15.5% increase in 2020. Compared to 2019, this represents a 21.3% sales increase on a same-store basis. There has also been a shift in mix with our customers buying more food and less general merchandise as a result of this high cost inflation. Net earnings decreased to CAD 28.2 million, compared to CAD 40.3 million last year. In spite of holding our sales flat to last year, our net earnings were down approximately 30%, which is directionally in line with our, what we indicated in our for 2022. Let me provide some context around these results. After adjusting for non-comparable share-based compensation costs and insurance-related gains, adjusted net earnings were down CAD 6.7 million or 17.8% compared to the strong COVID-19 related driven earnings last year. This is mostly explained by our gross profit results. Gross profit decreased 3.6% due to a 125 basis point decrease in rate compared to last year. Our gross profit rates were impacted by three factors. First, a change in product mix between food and general merchandise. As previously noted, this includes a higher blend of Cost-U-Less sales, which have a lower gross profit rate consistent with the discount format, warehouse format. Second, the impact of higher merchandise and freight costs that was not fully passed on through in the retail prices. Third, increased markdowns on seasonal merchandise compared to 2021. Excluding non-comparable factors of insurance gains and share-based compensation, an increase in expenses of CAD 1.7 million was also a factor. These are mainly related to new stores, the impact of foreign exchange on the translation of international operations expenses, and higher fuel-based utility costs. These expenses were partially offsite, offset by lower COVID-19 related expenses and annual incentive plan costs compared to last year. The quarterly dividend per share is up 2.8% compared to the first quarter last year and continues to be one of the vehicles we use to return value to our shareholders. We are in a healthy financial position. For 2022, we have extended increased primary loan facilities, which provides financial capacity to support investments in the business, including the growth and modernization projects, the existing stores I mentioned previously. Of course, it provides flexibility to support new growth, new store growth, and tuck-in acquisitions. Well, now it's time to come full circle. We're building for the future. As you've seen and heard throughout this presentation, we continue to expand our retail footprint with new stores, new concepts, and new services, and through new channels. Through operational excellence initiatives, we are building on our strengths and capabilities to deliver on our promise to customers and shareholders, ultimately, we're "Moving with Purpose". Helping our communities live better is embedded in everything we do, be it through partnerships with programs like the USDA Food Boxes or responding to a crisis in a time of need, like the water crisis in Iqaluit. We take the well-being of our customers and communities to heart. This is part of the rich and compelling story that makes this company so special, that's why 2021 sustainability report is called "Moving with Purpose". This is part of our ESG efforts with four pillars that guide our approach. Stronger communities, better quality of life for our customers, empowered employees, and respect for the environment. I encourage everyone to visit our website for further details. That said, I do wanna highlight certain elements. We are focused on attracting, developing, and retaining top talent and creating empowered employees. In 2021, we launched a diversity, equity, and inclusion corporate-wide survey as a way to listen and learn from our associates. We are using this feedback to develop a framework that prioritizes creating a more inclusive culture, developing diverse talents, and advancing diverse partnerships. This includes a commitment to continuing to build closer collaborative relationships with the Indigenous peoples that we are privileged to serve and work with around the world. In fact, we have incorporated Indigenous cultural training throughout all levels of the organization. Understanding the culture we operate in is not only instrumental for our business, but is also part of our values and who we are as a company. In addition to this, I would like to highlight how we are contributing to building stronger communities. This is done through our Three Horizons Foundation, which has been providing funding for nutrition, education, active living programs to over 60 Indigenous communities served by Northern and NorthMart. I would like to add, this last year has been an exciting and rewarding year as CEO. I'm immensely proud of our passionate and committed people and teams, and extremely grateful for what you do every day. We're "Moving with Purpose" towards the future, and your everyday actions are the foundation upon which the trust of our customers, communities, and shareholders is built. Thank you. Thanks, Dan. A very busy year and a great way to start off your tenure as CEO. I'd now entertain any questions we might have from our shareholders. I'm getting the nod, which means there are no questions. That keeps us, my record alive for all the years I've been Chairman, we only had one year with questions. This is keeping that tradition alive, and I trust it means because you're very pleased with the results of the company and are as excited as I am about the future. I wanna thank you all for attending this year's Annual General Meeting, and I declare we close.