Rather than tackle the pressing question as to why pension funds have decreased the their investments in Canada from 28% in 2000 to 3% today, a gaggle of milquetoast business leaders is demanding that Ottawa force those pension funds to invest within Canada despite lower returns. It’s as if these Wesley Mouch types believe that a depressed business climate is an unalterable fact of nature.
Government has the right, responsibility and obligation to regulate how this savings regime operates,” says the letter signed by dozens including BlackBerry Ltd founder Jim Balsillie, Metro Inc. chief executive Eric La Flèche, the CEOs of telecommunications companies Telus Corp., Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc., and former Bank of Nova Scotia and Air Canada CEOs Brian Porter and Calin Rovinescu.
“We think the government does have some right to have an influence over the regime” in which these large funds operate, he said. “But we’re not suggesting the government tells these pension funds exactly where to invest.”