Name: NDP call on Canada Pension Plan to dump shares of controversial surveillance company Palantir
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NDP call on Canada Pension Plan to dump shares of controversial surveillance company Palantir

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To orderpresentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distributionto colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire aboutpermissions/licensing, please go to: The federal New Democrats are calling on the Canada Pension Plan’s board to reconsider its stake in Palantir, a U.S. surveillance and big data company that assisted the Trump administration with its immigration crackdowns.Palantir sells itself as a big data analytics company, marketing its products to business, police and intelligence agencies, and governments.But the company has come under heavy criticism for its surveillance capabilities, with Amnesty International warning in September that Palantir risks “contributing to serious human rights violations” by facilitating the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants.That same month, the Canada Pension Plan’s Investment Board (CPPIB) became Palantir’s second-largest institutional shareholder, buying up shares worth $244 million.“This has made Canadian pension savings complicit in the use of technologies that raise serious questions of ethical and human rights violations,” wrote NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus in a Dec. 1 letter to CPPIB President Mark Machin.“I ask that you seriously reconsider the purchase of these stocks, and that you divest immediately into companies that take human rights and human lives seriously.”The CPPIB declined to comment when contacted by the Star.“It is our good practice, in the interests of the fund, to not provide detailed comment on specific public companies out of the 10,000 investible universe that we hold,” wrote Darryl Konynenbelt, a spokesperson for the fund, in a statement. Palantir also declined to comment.The company was created by Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and a significant force in Silicon Valley. Named after magical seeing stones in the Lord of the Rings series, Palantir specializes in big data analytics, helping clients find patterns in massive amounts of information.Amnesty International reported in September that Palantir’s products were used by Department of Homeland Security immigration officials to find, detain and deport undocumented migrants. The company is also central to the Trump administration’s plans to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine.David McNaughton, Canada’s former ambassador to the U.S. and a close adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was hired to assist Palantir’s Canadian operations. In September, the federal ethics commissioner ruled McNaughton broke conflict of interest laws by discussing Palantir’s potential to respond to COVID-19 with senior cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.Angus’s calls urging the CPPIB to divest from Palantir comes as the NDP targets what it calls “unethical” investment practices.The party is pushing for legislative changes to how the CPPIB looks at investing, calling for the board to further consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. The changes are contained in a private members bill put forward by Alistair MacGregor, the NDP MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford.If passed, Bill C-231 would stipulate that shares can’t be held in companies that have acted contrary to ethical business practices or violated human, labour or environmental rights.“Nowhere in the act that governs the CPPIB is there any mention of ESG factors or ethical business practices, there is no mention of human rights, labour rights or environmental rights,” MacGregor said in the House of Commons on Monday.The more than $400 billion pension fund is one of the largest in the world. MacGregor pointed to pension plans in Sweden, Quebec, and Norway — which has the world’s largest pension fund at $1 trillion — for examples of funds using ESG factors to make investment choices. He expects the bill will be voted on in March. Conservative finance critic, Pierre Poilievre, said the NDP MP was championing a good cause but was “afraid of the devil” and “avoided the details altogether” in the proposal. Poilievre said the terminology in the bill was too vague and criticized the lack of an arbitrator in the system. He added that the oil and gas industry in Canada would be negatively impacted by the changes due to the bill’s requirement to divest from emission intensive companies. Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, secretary to the government house leader, had concerns about the lack of discussions with provinces on the bill. He added that the board had “done well” for Canadians but that “what the member is trying to achieve here is noble.” Amr Addas, a professor in the finance department at Concordia University, said the changes, if passed, would result in too much political interference and that most pension fund managers already consider ESG factors when investing.Many energy companies began announcing plans to go net-zero after the mobilization of Climate Action 100+, an investor led global initiative to push green house gas emitting companies to adopt more sustainable practices, said Addas.“This was purely the result of pressure from those investors,” he said. “Those investors together manage something over $100 trillion, so it’s pretty hefty pressure.”JOIN THE CONVERSATION Q:Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. 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close This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To orderpresentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distributionto colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire aboutpermissions/licensing, please go to: The federal New Democrats are calling on the Canada Pension Plan’s board to reconsider its stake in Palantir, a U.S. surveillance and big data company that assisted the Trump administration with its immigration crackdowns.Palantir sells itself as a big data analytics company, marketing its products to business, police and intelligence agencies, and governments.But the...

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NDP call on Canada Pension Plan to dump shares of controversial surveillance company Palantir

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