QResear.ch

#13875957 at 2021-06-11 03:53:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research Canada #20: Anons Accelerate, Adversaries Agonized Edition

>>13875954
2/2

The New York-based company, which manages US$5.4 trillion in assets, describes itself as a firm that invests on behalf of a wide assortment of clients - from governments, to large institutions, to middle-income people saving for retirement.

The company, founded by CEO Larry Fink in 1988, is also considered an expert in risk management and asset valuation, said Moshe Milevsky, an associate professor of finance at York University's Schulich School of Business.

Milevsky said the company also consults with, and for, firms and governments around the world - including, he noted, the U.S. government during the 2008 financial crisis.

With a company the size of BlackRock, Milevsky said it's likely that it oversees at least a portion of just about every Canadian's retirement nest egg.

"It's almost impossible to talk about them without tip-toeing around the fact that they're an integral part of anything we do in the financial community," said Milevsky, who describes Fink as a "hero" in investment circles.

He noted that publications like The Economist magazine have expressed concerns the firm is getting larger and larger.

"Their expertise is very, very deep - very broad around the world - and that's where the knowledge resides," said Milevsky, who noted BlackRock has recruited many of his students over the years.

"That's not to say we shouldn't be alarmed about the fact that there is one company that has an indirect control of over 10 per cent of world assets."

But Milevsky said if one decided to seek private-sector advice on something like Ottawa's proposed infrastructure bank, he would rank BlackRock at the top of his list.

Laurence Booth, a University of Toronto professor, said he doesn't think Ottawa's decision to seek BlackRock's advice was a conflict of interest because it provided international expertise to government that was unavailable in-house.

"If you're going to sell something to people, you need to know what the customer wants," said Booth, a CIT chair at the Rotman School of Management.

The Liberals' adversaries have tried to cast BlackRock's involvement with the government as an example of its focus on the well-being of big investors rather than Canadians.

"The infrastructure bank boondoggle is just another taxpayer-funded Liberal vanity project," interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said Tuesday during question period.

"Has the prime minister forgotten that his job is to serve regular working people?"

Matthew Dube, the NDP's parliamentary infrastructure critic, accused the Liberals on Wednesday of developing the infrastructure bank behind closed doors with BlackRock at the table. His party is calling for a full day of House of Commons debate on the issue this Thursday.

Dube insisted Canadians will likely have to pay twice for their infrastructure - first through the federal treasury and then through user fees that will generate corporate profits.

"This thing is chock full of conflicts of interest," Dube said.

The government unveiled the design of the infrastructure bank in November. The announcement came a couple of weeks after the feds' council of economic advisers recommended Ottawa create such an institution in order to lure private capital by offering steady returns through user fees.

The influential advisory council includes powerful executives of institutional investors: Michael Sabia, head of Quebec's public pension fund manager, and Mark Wiseman, the former president and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Last May, BlackRock announced Wiseman had joined the company as a senior managing director.

In November, Trudeau participated in a summit hosted by the federal government that brought together some of the world's most powerful institutional investors - with a combined $21 trillion at their disposal.

Ottawa, which used the opportunity to promote Canada as an attractive place to invest, engaged BlackRock to invite its clients to the event. Fink and Trudeau were to deliver the opening remarks, according to a draft agenda.

In the lead-up to the summit, BlackRock reportedly participated in biweekly conference calls with Infrastructure Canada and the Privy Council Office to create a presentation Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi was to deliver to the investors.

BlackRock says it has organized similar events in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Mexico and the U.S.

"Our role in assisting to organize the summit included logistical planning, helping the government establish more relationships with global investors and providing directional feedback on Canadian long-term investment opportunities they might be interested in," a BlackRock spokeswoman wrote in an email statement.

"Any investments in Canada that may ultimately result from the summit's discussions would likely be made directly by an investor and wouldn't necessarily include BlackRock or a BlackRock-advised fund."

#10869597 at 2020-10-01 15:55:04 (UTC+1)
Welcome To Q Research Canada Bread #7 - Brinks Bank and a Box of Doughnuts Edition

Infrastructure bank to invest $10B in priority areas for COVID recovery

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined Thursday how the Canada Infrastructure Bank intends to invest $10 billion in projects meant to create 60,000 jobs and contribute to the fight against climate change. "We will continue to do what it takes to support Canadians through this crisis, safely get our economy back up and running, and get people back to work," Trudeau said in a release accompanying the announcement. The list does not include specific projects or any new money but highlights priority areas in which the bank intends to invest.

That includes $1.5 billion for agricultural infrastructure in Western Canada and $2 billion for broadband to expand access to high-speed internet service across the country. It also includes $2.5 billion for clean power, $1.5 billion for zero-emission buses and $2 billion to retrofit buildings for energy efficiency. The announcement includes $500 million to help speed up the things that need to be done before starting construction, such as studies and technical reports. Trudeau was joined by the new chair of the bank's board, Michael Sabia, and Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna. The Liberals say the investment plan is part of the government's promise in last week's throne speech to create one million jobs and help revive an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also intended to help the government meet its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Trudeau's government launched the infrastructure bank in 2017 with the authority to spend $35 billion over 10 years. The idea was for the bank to entice funding from private-sector partners, particularly big institutional investors like pension funds, to pay for what the government called "transformational" infrastructure projects. However, the bank has been criticized for the relatively few investments it has made thus far, in just nine projects. During last fall's federal election campaign, both the Conservatives and the NDP promised to abolish the bank if elected.

The bank has invested $1.28 billion in the REM automated light rail network in Montreal. It's pledged up to $2 billion to expand GO Transit service between Toronto and Hamilton and up to $300 million to increase container-handling capacity at the port of Montreal. Other investments are small (such as $55 million to Via Rail for the development of plans for an eventual high-speed rail corridor between Toronto and Quebec City), are for consulting or advisory services, or are just at the stage of memorandums of agreement. Sabia, the former head of Quebec's pension fund, was named chairman of the board in April amid a shakeup of the bank's senior executives.

At that time, he and the government predicted that the bank would play a major role in stimulating the economy after the pandemic.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/infrastructure-bank-to-invest-10b-in-priority-areas-for-covid-recovery-1.1502035

#10324400 at 2020-08-18 01:12:53 (UTC+1)
Welcome To Q Research Canada Bread #7 - Brinks Bank and a Box of Doughnuts Edition

>>10324220
>>10324196
>>10323482

and this explains why he quit possibly?
https://www.debtclock.ca
https://financialpost.com/opinion/jack-m-mintz-canadas-debt-load-is-even-worse-than-you-think
>Add it all up and Canada's debt burden is $3.2 trillion. That's 166 per cent of GDP - fully four times the IMF forecast for 2020


https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/trudeau-seeks-advice-from-mark-carney-on-economic-recovery-plan-1.5058179

Trudeau seeks advice from Mark Carney on economic recovery plan

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to help navigate the country out of the COVID-19 recession, CTV News has confirmed.

Trudeau has tapped the long-time economist as an "informal advisor" on the government's pandemic recovery plan, as BNN/Bloomberg first reported. He is also seeking advice from Michael Sabia, former president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a Quebec-based pension fund giant.

Efforts by the prime minister to draw expertise outside his inner circle comes after revelations that Finance Minister Bill Morneau accepted paid travel from WE Charity - the organization chosen to roll out the now-halted student grant program - and has close family ties to the charity. He is currently under investigation by the ethics commissioner.

Related Stories
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As CERB winds down, labour group asks Liberals to rethink EI
Canada's merchandise trade deficit increases sharply to $3.2B in June: StatCan
It also follows grim news that the estimated federal deficit for 2020-21 will sit at $343.2 billion as detailed in the Liberal's July fiscal snapshot. Many of the government's support programs, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, will be phased out in August leaving many struggling businesses and jobless Canadians wondering what will happen next.

Carney has taken on the role of the United Nations' special envoy on climate action and finance since leaving his most recent post as the governor of the Bank of England in March.

He left Ottawa for London in 2013 at a time when the British economy was in flux as the country prepared for the possibility of leaving the European Union.

Before that, he was appointed head of Canada's central bank in 2008 during former prime minister Stephen Harper's tenure, helping steer Canada out of the global financial collapse.

In June, he announced he was writing a book about creating a more equitable post-pandemic economy titled "Value(s): Building a Better World For All," scheduled for release next spring.

#7730836 at 2020-01-06 13:12:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research Canada #3 - Maple Syrup Truth Bomb Edition

>>7730834

8. Michael Sabia & The Caisse

CANADA'S DEEP STATE Part 8 - Michael Sabia and the Caisse
While researching everything & everyone in this series, many questions arose while trying to understand how pension fund managers, global "investment/asset managers" and global "management consultants" became the Crime Minister's gurus with so much power and say in this government - SO MUCH that an infrastructure bank Crown Corporation was created AND FAST.

Why?
How did the core mandate of public pensions morph into that?
Why does there seem to be an ulterior motive?

How does this fit in with China, the other key players like Barton & Wiseman, Pension Plans, immigration, the "middle class" & retiring boomers? Future posts to come.

These all came together with the deep digs on Michael Sabia and Quebec's public pension the Caisse.

Michael Sabia is Pres & CEO of Quebec's Pension Plan : Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ or The Caisse) since 2009. The first anglophone to head the Caisse which ruffled a lot of feathers in Quebec
Education
1976 BA political economy, University of Toronto
- met his wife, Hilary Pearson in 1st year, granddaughter of former PM Lester B.Pearson
1977-83 MA, MPhil, political economy, Yale University
Career
1986-90 Canadian department of finance, tax policy
1990-93 PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE deputy secretary to the cabinet
--> Why do I get bad vibes every time with the PCO or Clerk of the Privy Council?
1993-95 Canadian National Railway (CN), VP Corp Development
1995-99 CN CFO
1999-00 Bell Canada International, chief executive
2000-02 Bell Canada Enterprise (BCE), Exec.VP & COO
2002-08 BCE CEO & Pres
2009-present Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, CEO & Pres

Sabia held a number of senior positions in Canada's federal public service incl. Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet of the Privy Council Office1986-93. As a federal govt bureaucrat, he worked on the tax overhaul that would lead to the creation of GST.
Sabia's supervisor, Clerk of the Privy Council Paul Tellier, left the public service in 1992 to become Pres. of CN Rail, a Crown corp., Sabia followed him in 1993 to help in privatizing the company. Sabia held a number of executive positions at Canadian National Railway including the position of chief financial officer.

Tellier remained CEO at CN until Jan.2003 when he left "unexpectedly" to become Bombardier Corp's CEO.

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED
On November 17, 1995, after 78 years as a Crown corporation, CN was part of the largest privatization in Canadian history through an initial public offering (IPO) that raised CAD 2.26 billion for the Canadian government.

This was led by a new management team of ex-federal government bureaucrats, including Paul Tellier and Michael Sabia who began preparing CN for privatization by improving productivity and enhancing profitability.

These objectives were achieved by massive cuts to the company's management structure, massive layoffs (CN went from 32,000 employees to about 23,000) and the sale of its branch lines. In Tellier's final year as CEO, the publicly traded company earned $800 million.

#7730821 at 2020-01-06 13:08:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research Canada #3 - Maple Syrup Truth Bomb Edition

>>7730819

4. Canada Infrastructure Bank

Canada's Deep State Part 4 - Canada Infrastructure Bank
The Canada infrastructure Bank (CIB) has been steeped in controversy since it was first proposed.

The Liberal's 2015 election promise was to provide low-cost financing to municipalities for infrastructure projects, as a vehicle for Ottawa to use its strong credit rating and lending authority to help municipalities reduce their cost of borrowing.

The Liberal plans evolved considerably since the party first promised an infrastructure bank during that election campaign - there was no mention of attracting private capital. The role of the proposed Canadian Infrastructure Development Bank was to attract financing from institutional investors to fund projects over the next 10 years as a Crown corporation.

Dominic Barton and Michael Sabia sketched out the infrastructure bank idea at the Public Policy Forum summit in Oct. 2016, a more ambitious plan in which the bank would gather and prioritize large projects that could earn revenue, such as electrical networks, and that attract billions in added international investment.

Sounds an awful lot like McKinsey's "for-profit public-sector work" and advising governments.

The proposal to entice global pension funds into major Canadian investments goes far beyond anything promised to date by the federal Liberals, but Finance Minister Bill Morneau - who worked directly with the panel over the past several months - signalled a strong openness to the recommendations announced Thursday.

However, the panel's 14 members include leaders of some of those institutional investors, including Mark Wiseman, senior managing director of BlackRock Inc., and Michael Sabia, CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec pension fund.

Examples of potential projects listed... include toll highways and bridges, high-speed rail, port and airport expansions, city infrastructure, national broadband infrastructure, power transmission and natural resource infrastructure.

PM hopes to attract billions in private capital for infrastructure
Trudeau takes his foreign-investment agenda to investors, two weeks after announcing an infrastructure bank.

He will be accompanied by nine members of cabinet, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, and Health Minister Jane Philpott. Trudeau and four of the ministers also are set to make their pitch to about a dozen Canadian investors - insurance companies and big pension funds like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board - in the morning before meeting with the international investors in the afternoon.

Attracting billions in private-sector capital for "transformative" infrastructure projects is key to the Liberal government's lonhg-term strategy to boost Canada's sluggish economic growth.