Is Jason Kenney Ready to Bet Albertan Pensions on Failing Fossil Fuel Firms? | The Tyee
As part of the Fair Deal Panel that Jason Kenney announced on Nov. 9 to “advance our vital economic interests,” the repatriation of nearly $40 billion in Canada Pension Plan assets will be explored. Those assets would also be handed over to AIMCo, and they could be an irresistible target for an oil and gas industry that is struggling to attract investment — and a government that clearly wants to help it do just that.
Kenney has clearly signalled his willingness to increase public financing for private oil and gas companies on a vastly larger scale. Last April he committed $7.5 billion in provincial funds to completing the Keystone XL pipeline because TC Energy could not access private equity for the contentious project, a move he boasted was “a solid bet.” International finance experts disagreed, calling the investment an “idiotic waste.”
TC Energy stock has dropped 16 per cent since Alberta pensioners became majority owners in what could be a money-losing climate killer.