Saturday, February 9, 2008

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board: Dabbling in cover-ups at the behest of Harper/Flaherty


Obviously there are those who are well served by preventing Canadians at large from realizing that Stephen Harper’s income trust tax did more that simply raid the nest eggs of the 2.5 million Canadians who own them, since in reality every Canadian had their personal nest egg raided by Stephen Harper’s ill conceived income trust move, namely their CPP.

All of which could have been simply avoided by shutting down trusts and grandfathering the existing trusts. That way the losses to the CPP would not have occurred, Stephen Harper wouldn’t have broken his promise and these trusts wouldn’t be picked off by foreigners as we have witnessed in spades.

Since when has a government ever acted in a way that has put a $300 million permanent hole in the Canada Pension Plan? Premeditated and deliberate no less. I have learned from top sources that this truth of Harper’s imprudent actions of October 31, 2006 is something that the CPPIB and the PMO are desperate not get out.

When CAITI innocently posted this reality concerning the loss sustained by the CPP on the news ticker tape of our website, which at the time was half the loss it is today, we received no less than three incoming overtures from the CPPIB to take this offensive truth off our website. How accountable and transparent is that?

It’s obvious this request came from the very top of the CPPIB, namely David Denison. since the first contact came from the most junior person working in the CPPIB’s “Communications” Department. Keep in mind, the CPPIB is not the CPP. Canadians are the CPP. The CPPIB is charged with managing the assets of the CPP on Canadians behalf. It appears that they also dabble in cover-ups at the behest of Harper.

That’s the way cover-ups always work. Let’s get the most innocuous guy to make the request.....after which the real players quickly reveal themselves as their temperature level starts to boil. Here was that first foray. I think it is incumbent on the Canadian Media to start making inquiries from the top down. I’ll make it easy for them. Here’s the derivation of the pension plan’s $300 million loss. Here’s David Dension’s contact info. And here’s the first attempt at suppression that I fielded (see e-mail of October 30, 2007 below)

No doubt the CPPIB wil try to blow off the media with the line that I ultimately got, which is that income trusts are not a “focus are for the CPPIB”. How convenient. How irrelevant and completely arbitrary, since money is money, and since when does owning over $1.3 billion of a single asset class, not constitute a “focus area”? Perhaps only after the government in power has reduced its value by $300 million to mere $1.0 billion. Here’s part of my response:

“The CPPIB may be of the view that ”this is not a focus area” for it, however I do believe the loss of pension assets which you manage of this magnitude by the pension beneficiaries, namely all Canadians, is. Particularly, since this material loss was the direct result and sole consequence of a tax policy that was enacted without any public consultation and misleadingly proffered up as “strengthening Canada’s social security system for seniors and pensioners” in the enabling legislation, the Ways and Means Motion.

Not sure which pensioners they had in mind, however certainly not the ones who you manage money on behalf of."



From: "Pedrosa, Manuel"
Date: October 30, 2007
To: contact@caiti.info
Subject: Re: CPP has lost $158 million


Good Afternoon,

I would like to speak to someone about your scrolling marquee on your Web site that declares that the Canada Pension Plan has lost $158 billion as a result of Haper’s broken promises.

The only contact information on you Web site is this e-mail address.

Regards,

Manuel

------------------------------------------
Manuel Pedrosa
Specialist, Communications
Communications and Stakeholder Relations
CPP Investment Board
One Queen Street East
Suite 2600
Toronto, ON M5C 2W5

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Open your eyes people , this is your money that the government is pissing away without a thought--& guess what , this was done with the full support & blessing of the CPP board.

Sounds good to me --like I have that kind of cash to just toss out the window.

These clowns were hired on by us to make us money , not lose it--if I had been hired on to make money for this gov`t & I had lost even $10,000 , I would be fired in an instant--I would be moved out of that job so fast , that the skid marks would be barely visible.

This gov`t knew prior to Oct 31st 2006 that this would be the result--now that is what I call arrogant incompetence.

It is beyond me that this has ben allowed to pass virtually unnoticed by the media -- guys get off your duffs , this is your money too.

Dr Mike.

Anonymous said...

I want my money back + interest.

Oh , & while you are at it Mr Falherty , where is my portion of the 35 billion dollars that we lost.

And yes , + interest.

Mary P

Anonymous said...

Les:

The CPPIB is politically appointed. They are a separate legal entity from the CPP itself. What gives them the right to withhold disclosure of their assets? Has the CPP turned into the second coming of the ABCP, courtesy of the CPPIB? Or does CPPIB now stand for Canada Pension Plan Investment Black-box?

No mutual fund can do that. Why the CPPIB all of a sudden? We need the full disclosure or an audit by the Auditor General......it should only take one phone call? Just borrow some quote from Flaherty about the absolute need for transparency in financial matters. Perhaps Stephane Dion or Elizabeth May could place a call to the AG. The NDP have proven themselves incompetent and useless on matters of real importance to Canadians even though their website reads:”Standing up for Canadians’ Pensions and Benefits”.

Jacks more interested in sounding good, rather than doing good. See: http://www.ndp.ca/pensions

Jack is as much to blame as Harper for putting a permanent $300 million hole in the CPP. Maybe he’s hoping it can be made up with lower ATM fees. BTW Where are the lower ATM fees?

Not sure if the Bloc even cares, since they don’t have a plug nickel in the CPP.

Brent Fullard

Brent and Mike

I wonder how long it will take the CPPIB to remove/reduce their Income Trust
holdings from their web site? Brent I told Mike that the OTPP reduced their
web site listing to those holdings over $100 million. This cut out quite a
few of the trusts that they held (I am going from memory here because my
files are in Collingwood). What do you bet the CPPIB does something
similiar?

Here is the link with the data.

http://www.cppib.ca/files/PDF/CDN_Equity_Holdings_March31_2007_-_ENG.pdf


Les

Anonymous said...

The CPP Investment Board used to have $1.354 billion invested in Income Trusts. As closely as we can figure they now have left $1.080 billion invested in income trusts.
As of Friday they have lost $273,531,140 or 20.20% of their holdings as of March 31, 2007.

I am sure that Canadian pensioners would have loved to see some of that $273 million in their pockets as opposed to having it flushed down the drain because of Mr. Flaherty's income trust tax using incorrect tax leakage calculations.

Anonymous said...

As I stated in a previous comment from the other post about this topic:

What I find truly despicable is an attempt to censor, for purely political reasons, public disclosure of the ill effects of a government policy by a supposedly independent Canadian agency charged with the very mandate of investing Canadian citizens' CPP contributions and earning a return on those contributions!

-----------------------------------

Welcome to Harper's Canadian Fascist Dictatorship.

Please for the sake of the cause - and indeed OUR country - when you vote in the very likely upcoming election, vote stategically.

I.E.: Vote Liberal, since they are the only party capable of taking down this Fascist Dictator and his evil Death Star CONS!!!!

TAKE BACK CANADA!

FIGHT FOR THE BRIGHT,
NOT THE CONSERVATIVE BLIGHT!

Gary said...

Can you tell me a little bit more about this Canada pension plan that you talk about? I want to start saving and investing right now so that it can grow as I grow. What suggestions would you have for a newcomer to the financial investment world?