The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that dozens of Canada's largest investors are urging public companies to preserve their in-person annual meetings, warning that the shift to virtual-only formats allows managements to silence dissent. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that in an open letter, a group of 38 institutional investors, advisers, portfolio managers and non-profits representing a combined $1.7-trillion in assets, say virtual-meeting procedures are undermining shareholder rights. The group says virtual-only meetings give managements the power to cherry pick which questions they want to answer. Regulators have struggled to ensure companies holding virtual-only AGMs offer the same level of access for shareholders as an in-person meeting. The Canadian Securities Administrators has made three attempts since 2020 to offer guidance on virtual shareholder meetings. Each time, the CSA has faced criticism for continuing to provide companies with too much latitude to silence shareholder dissent. The letter wants full transparent access to the exact questions shareholders ask, the answers provided and a publicly available recording and transcript of the entire meeting posted on corporate websites.