Cornwall Council calls for OMERS pension to divest from fossil fuels

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Cornwall Council, in a narrow decision, required one of Canada’s largest pension plans to set clear goals to divest from fossil fuels and any investment in new fossil fuel development.

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Councilors in the resolution proposed by Associate Sarah Good on June 11 were told that the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Ontario’s second largest pension plan, received an overall grade of C+ on 2023 Canadian Pension Climate Report Card and has not strengthened its climate statements. expedite.

“We need to urge OMERS to divest from fossil fuels and focus on the long-term financial health of our pensions and the council’s clear direction to meet net zero targets by 2025,” Good said in a brief. discussion before what was a recorded 6-5 vote in favor of the resolution.

“Fossil fuels are increasingly becoming a financial liability as the world moves towards renewable energy. As local government, we have a responsibility to lead by example (and) to catalyze wider change by inspiring other institutions to follow suit.”

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OMERS is the pension plan for most every municipal employee in Ontario, including municipal police officers and firefighters. It also includes employers such as SD&G’s Children’s Aid Society and some of the staff from local school boards, among others. Board members are also eligible to contribute to OMERS if they choose. Cornwall employee contributions to the pension plan are matched by the city based on their collective bargaining and/or employment agreement.

cone Elaine MacDonald said she would vote for the resolution because “at the end of the day, it’s just a request, we’re not shareholders, we can’t actively control OMERS. But we can certainly help increase the moral pressure on every fossil fuel developer.”

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Yes votes on the resolution were also recorded for the Councils. Fred Ngoundjo, Maurice Dupelle, Carilyne Hébert and Mayor Justin Towndale. They voted, there were no councils. Claude McIntosh, Todd Bennett, Dean Hollingsworth, Syd Gardiner and Denis Sabourin.

“We’re going down a rabbit hole on this one, going in a direction we shouldn’t be going,” McIntosh said. “We have no problem taking gas tax money, I don’t think we should be telling OMERS how to invest our money. . . I think everyone around this table drives a vehicle that requires fossil fuels.”

Bennett said that a lot of money is currently being made in fossil fuel investments and that – as McIntosh had said earlier in the debate – “I want the check to keep coming… . it’s very profitable for them, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.”

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Bennett acknowledged a slow shift away from fossil fuels, that greater investment in clean energy is likely to emerge as part of the wave of the future.

“I don’t think it’s our place at this point to tell (OMERS) how to invest,” Bennett said.

Council’s request is consistent with the City’s own investments – the City can and does have certain funds it holds in reserve invested. The city’s communications office said Cornwall is investing in GICs, along with funds provided by ONE Investment, in line with its investment policy. ONE Investment was founded in 1993 to create investment funds that meet Ontario’s legal requirements for municipalities.

A spokesman for ONE Investment said Cornwall’s investments did not include any direct investment in fossil fuel companies.

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