Tuesday, November 07, 2006

To: jcappelletti@cppib.ca

Mr. Cappelletti,

I am opposed to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's bid to purchase the for-profit British water company Anglian Water. While Ian Dale of the CPPIB told the Ottawa Citizen that Anglian Water has a "sound environmental track record," in truth it has been fined over half a million pounds during the last six years and it is the only company in the industry to see an increase in major pollution incidents since 2004. After Britain's water system was privatized, prices rose by over 50 per cent in the first four years, and the real value of the fees, salaries and bonuses paid to the director's increased between 50 per cent and 200 per cent in most water companies. The British newspaper The Daily Mail wrote that, "the water industry has become the biggest rip-off in Britain" and that it is "the greatest act of licensed robbery in our history." The CPPIB should also recognize that major studies have shown that responsible investing does not affect the performance of pension funds. I am deeply concerned by the CPP's investments in weapons-makers, cigarette producers, top air polluters and companies whose activities have been linked to allegations of human-rights abuses, as reported recently by the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. The CPPIB should not be investing in private water corporations that seek profit over the fundamental right to water. I call on the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to end its bid to invest in for-profit water.

Sincerely,

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