An Alberta Pension Plan has merit — but not as a source of fresh capital for the energy sector

Max Fawcett, the author of the article, says the plan has merit. Max is wrong.

Unlike the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which is largely
immune to political pressure because of its governance model and
pan-Canadian mandate, AIMCo could theoretically come under pressure from
the Government of Alberta.

Sections 19 and 20 of the AIMCo Act,
which established it as a Crown corporation, explicitly state that it
must follow “directives” issued by the Treasury Board — ones that could
include how or where to invest.

Danielle Smith, the former leader
of the Wildrose party and a popular talk radio host, said the quiet
part here out loud in a recent CBC interview. (Skip to the 5:36 mark in
the video below.)

“If CPP starts bailing out of energy resources,” she said, “we don’t
want to be in a position where our money is being used to support solar
and wind or other experiments that the CPP — driven politically by a
Trudeau government — might want to invest in.”

Never mind that
the Trudeau government can’t actually influence the CPPIB’s strategy, or
that investments in solar and wind are increasingly attractive to asset
managers around the world. Smith’s apparent belief that Alberta’s
pension assets should be used to support the province’s biggest industry
is a leap that a lot of people are probably willing to take — even if
AIMCo’s track record on this front is something short of enviable. |Read more https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-pension-plan-aimco-max-fawcett-1.5374110|

#abpoli #AIMco #CPP #oil investments #environment #Danielle Smith