by Tracey Lindeman in Ottawa
CPPIB pulls investments in CoreCivic and Geo Group, Unannounced move follows Guardian report on holdings
One of Canada’s biggest pension funds has quietly divested from two private prison operators responsible for the detention of thousands of migrants along the US-Mexico border.
Late last year, the Guardian reported that the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) held nearly US$8m in stock in Geo Group and CoreCivic, which between them hold the lion’s share of contracts to manage Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention facilities in the US.
The CPPIB, which manages C$392bn (US$299m) in pension funds on behalf of 20 million Canadians, did not make a public statement when it dropped the two companies from its list of foreign public equity holdings, but the change was spotted this week by the federal MP Charlie Angus, a member of the opposition New Democratic party.
On Friday, he called on the CPPIB to publicly acknowledge the divestment and take a position on ethical investing.
“Ethical investments are essential to maintaining public confidence in what the Canadian Pension Plan does, and the investments in Geo Group and CoreCivic were deeply offensive to Canadian values,” he told the Guardian.
“It’s a crock to say the market should be blind and we’ll go where we can make the easiest money. I mean, there’s all kinds of places to make easy money.”
The NDP has tabled a bill, C-431, asking that the pension board abide by greater ethical standards.
full story at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/05/canada-pension-fund-divests-us-migrant-detention-firms