DOING THE RIGHT THING

I have been a fan of Rick Mercer for over 20 years, since he was on This Hour Has 22 Minutes. His rants on the Rick Mercer Report have made him the conscience of Canada, so it was awfully hard to watch his January 9, 2004 show. This time, he wasn't creating a petition demanding Stockwell Day change his first name to Doris and he wasn't skewering the prime minister of the day. No, this time he focused his attention, and the country's attention, on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP). In addition, it was only after prodding from OSSTF/FEESO and other OTF affiliates' members of the OTF Board of Governors that the OTPP signed the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (PRI) in 2011. According to the OTPP website, "These principles provide a voluntary framework for incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into investment decision- making and ownership practices." So it should be much easier to get the pension plan not to invest in things we don't like. We just have to agree on which investments we oppose. Still, the work isn't over, and we continue to have issues with some of our investments. As Rick Mercer reminded us in 2004, teachers' reputations are at risk due to investments made by the OTPP. But it isn't just our reputation; the reputation of the OTPP might also be at risk. That is critically important, as the Plan's reputation helps to open doors and make deals.