More than 70 per cent of its independent shareholders—and 19 per cent of all shareholders—voted in favour of asking the company to investigate and report on possible human rights abuses, said the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, which submitted the shareholder proposal. (The Logic)

Talking point: The firm’s controlling shareholder is The Woodbridge Company, the primary investment vehicle for the Thomsons, Canada’s wealthiest family. Most of Thomson Reuters’ revenue now comes from its legal, corporates, and tax and accounting-professionals units as it has been transitioning from a media company to a tech company, selling B2B software. The proposal asked the board to “produce a human rights risk report,” claiming that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the company’s data tool Clear to track and arrest immigrants. The company’s board recommended shareholders vote against the proposal, noting the ICE contract for Clear expired in late February. “Thomson Reuters agrees that companies must address and respect human rights concerns, and we have a number of mechanisms in place … to ensure we are doing so,” the company said in a statement to The Logic. The union put forth a similar proposal last year, which garnered 33 million votes in support compared to this year’s 84 million. Hootsuite and Palantir are also among companies that have faced blowback for their work with ICE.