While the British Columbia government wages war against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, its own employees are invested in the U.S. company behind the $7.4-billion project.
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. (BCI), which manages the pension funds for B.C.’s public sector workers, owns stakes in the Canadian oil and gas industry as well as pipeline companies Kinder Morgan Inc., Enbridge Inc. and Pembina Pipeline Corp. Houston-based Kinder Morgan’s Canadian subsidiary, Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd., is developing the Trans Mountain Expansion. Kinder Morgan owns about 70 per cent of the voting interests of the Canadian unit. BCI does not hold shares in Kinder Morgan Canada.
Recent disclosures filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show BCI has increased its exposure to Kinder Morgan in recent months even as the province has escalated its efforts to block the project, according to data gleaned by the Financial Post. The most recent SEC filings show BCI purchased an additional 21,214 shares during the fourth quarter of 2017 in Kinder Morgan, which recently suspended work on the pipeline.
The purchases bring BCI’s total stake in Kinder Morgan to 1,122,716 shares, a position worth more than US$18 million at current prices. BCI’s total net assets under management as of Dec. 31 were $135.5 billion.
Geoffrey Morgan – Vancouver Sun – May 7, 2018.
Want More Investigative Content?
