SCAN!’s Pension Divestment Working Group has a member in Winnipeg, and they organized a visit to CPPIB’s public meeting in Winnipeg this year.
About a dozen people attended a short rally in front of the Fairmont Winnipeg before the meeting. Inside the hotel, they met up with another dozen people concerned about climate change.
There were eleven people primed to each ask a question SHIFT had developed. After four of the questions were asked, they were told that there had been lots of climate change questions at the Ottawa meeting and that only people with other questions should speak.
The meeting was, as described by Ottawa SCAN!, essentially a PR exercise.
No one from the Board of Directors attended.
Here are some of the comments from those who attended.
“What I learned about CPPIB – Transparently Amoral They were very clear that ethics play no role in their investment strategy.“
“It was frustrating that they only provide one hour for the event. Forty-five minutes is not long enough for the question period. It all seems like a bit of a PR stunt and more than a bit disrespectful of our time and energy to attend. I felt we were being treated a bit like children, juice and cookies and a one-hour class!”
“I’m not sure why they needed to cut off the question period, and I wish I had thought to ask that very question. They go through all this bother and expense you’d think they could allow more time.”