The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 3

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2004 A3 CANADA Invest pension fund ethically: Mf motion CPP's billions should support Canadian values, says Pat Martin I I a 1 U.S. prosecutors say Anna Mae Pictou Aquash's hands were tied and she begged for her life as she was led to the edge of a cliff in South Dakota, where she was shot in the back of the head. A jury pronounced Alio Looking Cloud, right, guilty Friday in the death of the Canadian woman. Native militant convicted of murder Tribe of Canada, was among the Indian militants who occupied the village of Wounded Knee for 71 days in 1973. Prosecutors said Ms.

Aquash's hands were tied and she begged for her life as she was led to the edge of a cliff in South Dakota, where she was shot in the back of the head. Mr. Looking Cloud admitted he helped drive Ms. Aquash from Denver to Rapid City and eventually to the place where he says Mr. Graham shot her, but he insisted he did not know she was going to be killed.

Mr. Rensch criticized prosecutors for testimony about the violence of the American Indian Movement that he said had nothing to do with the case. Mr. Rensch said in closing arguments Friday that prosecutors had not proven Mr. Looking Cloud knowingly took part in the killing.

"They have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that in his I- BY BILL CURRY The Canada Pension Plan reserve fund, which is predicted to swell beyond $160 billion within a decade, should be forced into ethical investments rather than supporting companies such as military suppliers and tobacco makers, states a new motion tabled in the Commons by the NDP. In light of recent reforms to the program to ensure it can support the retiring baby boom generation, increased premiums have boosted the fund to its current NDP MP Pat Martin said the ballooning fund means its investments now have a significant impact on the economy and Canadians should have a debate over whether the Canada Pension Plan Investment Review Board needs guidelines regarding how it invests their money. "There are lots of Canadians who refuse to invest in tobacco companies for all kinds of ethical reasons who will be really upset to learn there's nothing stopping the CPP from doing that," said Mr. Martin. CPP funds have gradually been transferred to the board since it was created in 1999 with a mandate to invest in private equities.

The NDP MP points out that many Canadians pride themselves for not supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq, yet the fund has about $6oo-million invested in U.S. military contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and General Dynamics. "It's absolutely shocking. I mean, part of the Chretien legacy was staying out of the war in Iraq. Well, we've been inadvertently participating in the war in Iraq all along through our Canada Pension Plan.

It's disingenuous to Canadians." The motion introduced by Mr. Martin last week calls for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Review Board to be "prohibited from investing in companies and enterprises that manufacture and trade in military arms and weapons, have records of poor environmental and labour practices or whose conduct and practices are contrary to Canadian values." With the current session of Parliament expected to be cut short for an election, the motion is not expected to come to a vote in the near future, but NDP leader Jack Layton has said the idea will be part of his party's campaign platform. Mr. Martin argues that if the CPP is going to be investing in the stock market, it should use "ethical funds" which have various screens to weed out companies such as military contractors, tobacco and alcohol producers and companies engaged in child labour. "The ethical mutual funds have in some cases outperformed the general funds, but what we need to take into account with our pension plan is that we could be achieving necessary secondary objectives that may be more difficult to measure," he said.

Mr. Martin's other investment suggestions include using the fund to build social housing and then collecting returns through mortgages, lending money to municipalities for green infrastructure like public transit and generating profit from the interest, or funding energy retrofits for government buildings and collecting the energy savings. Mr. Martin said his motion was inspired by a recent study by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, which linked CPP investments to top U.S. military contractors.

Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading for Scotia McLeod, questioned Mr. Martin's proposal, pointing out that "ethical" mutual funds have traditionally underperformed traditional funds. Also, Mr. Ketchen said maximizing returns for Canada's seniors could be considered a social goal in itself "I know that it's tough for those people who may think that some of their Canada Pension Plan money is being invested in God knows what Rothmans or Molsons or Lockheed Martin or Boeing but I thought the Canada Pension Plan was supposed to represent all Canadians," he said. Mr.

Ketchen said ethical funds will likely always under-perform traditional funds because they go against the main rule of investing, which is to have as diverse a portfolio as possible. "I admire people who have that philosophy but if I was running a pension plan, I'd be looking for the best results that I could get from all sectors with diversification," he said. Mr. Ketchen added that Canadians should not be surprised that the CPP has lost money since entering the stock market, because it has been a down period for all investors. CPP Investment Board spokesman John Cappelletti said federal legislation requires the board to focus only on maximizing returns and that changing the legislation would not be easy.

"It would take more than Parliament," he said, pointing out that the federal government would also have to secure the support of two-thirds of the nine participating provinces representing two-thirds of the population. mind he wanted Miss Pictou Aquash to die," Mr. Rensch said. Tagging along isn't enough." U.S. Attorney Jim McMahon told jurors Mr.

Looking Cloud had been a willing participant in Ms. Aquash's killing. "She gets to the edge of the cliff and asks to pray and she's shot in the back of the head," Mr. McMahon said. "You don't have to go any further in this case than that there.

Because to haul somebody that distance to the edge of the cliff is premeditated, cold-blooded murder." Mr, Rensch criticized prosecutors for testimony about the violence of the American Indian Movement that he said had nothing to do with the case. Mr. McMahon said the evidence about AIM was intended to lay the background for allegations among its members at the time that Ms. Aquash was a government spy. THEASSOCIATED PRESS said he believes he can win an appeal because of prejudicial evidence that "had nothing to do with the case." Jurors deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Mr.

Looking Cloud of first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping. He had been indicted in March with another former AIM member, John Graham. Authorities said they only recently found enough evidence to prosecute the case. A break came when the former common-law wife of former AIM leader Dennis Banks came forward. Mr.

Graham is free on bail in Canada and plans to fight extradition. The slaying came amid a series of bloody clashes in the mid-1970s between federal agents and AIM, which agitated for treaty rights and self-determination for Indians. Ms. Aquash, a member of Mi'kmaq Lawyer plans appeal inl975killing ofMi'kmaqAquash BY CARSON WALKER RAPID CITY, South Dakota A former American Indian Movement member was convicted of murdering a Canadian woman who had been suspected of being a government informant. His attorney plans to appeal Arlo Looking Cloud, 50, will be sentenced April 23 and faces a mandatory life prison term.

He showed no emotion when a federal jury pronounced him guilty Friday in the 1975 shooting death of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, a fellow member of the militant group. Her frozen body was found in 1976 on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. J)efence lawyer Tim Rensch Meet with Dalai Lama, I MPs urge Martin Anti-Harper Maritimers starting to like Clement A 1 1, i mil mmm Jif PM should broker peace between China, i- and exiled leader BY DANIEL TENCER I A parliamentary committee organizing a visit to Canada by the Dalai Lama plans to formally request that Prime Minister Paul Martin meet with the ex-fled Tibetan spiritual leader. I 'But Chinese government Officials have responded with hostility to the visit, calling it inappropriate. An official with the Chinese Smbassy, who requested anonymity, compared the Tibet situation with Quebec separatism.

"If somebody from Quebec went to China or (the) United States, asking the U.S. government to support Quebec independence from Canada, what would (be) your response?" In a written statement to the Citizen, the Chinese Embassy denounced plans for the visit, arid warned that "Tibetan affairs are the internal affairs of China that brook no foreign interference." "The Dalai Lama is not simply a religious figure, but was once the biggest serf owner in old Tibet, and now a politician in exile engaged in activities aimed at splitting China and undermining national unity," the statement read. The Montreal-based Canada- Tibet Committee is pushing for the prime minister to meet with the 68-year-old Dalai Lama who, as a leader of the Buddhist faith, has developed a large following throughout the world in the past few decades. Both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former U.S. president Bill Clinton have met with the Dalai Lama.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien met with him in 1990, but refused' to do so in 1993 for fear of jeopardizing trade relations. Melanie Gruer, the prime minister's press secretary, said Mr. Martin had not yet decided if he would meet with the Dalai Lama. She could not say when a decision would be made. However, a representative of the Foreign Affairs Department said no official meetings were scheduled during what the representative described as a "private" visit by the Tibetan leader.

The Dalai Lama will be in Canada in April on a crosscountry tour that will take him to Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. He is to receive an honorary degree from Simon Fras-er University, and is supposed to meet with parliamentarians in Ottawa. Tenzin DargyaL a spokesman for the Canada-Tibet Committee, described the Chinese embassy's criticism as "predictable." The committee says Mr. Martin should agree to broker a peace deal between the Dalai The Dalai Lama, who has been living In exile from Tibet since 1959, won the Nobel Peace Prize In 1989 for his efforts to resolve the acrimony between Tibet and the People's Republic of China. always the headliner." All three leadership hopefuls Mr.

Clement, former Canadian Alliance leader Harper, and auto-parts magnate Belinda Stronach appeared at the provincial Tory party meeting in Halifax this weekend Ms. Stronach has received a flood of media attention since entering the race a few weeks ago, and Mr. Harper is already a known commodity. However, Mr. Harper's campaign along the East Coast has been haunted by comments he made a few years ago, when he said Atlantic Canada suffered from a "defeatist attitude." "People have a long memory," said Tim Olive of Dartmouth, who was natural resources minister until being defeated in last summer's election.

"As well they should. There are things that you just don't say, and if you believe that and say that, then you'd better be prepared for the consequences." THE CANADIAN PRESS BY MURRAY BREWSTER HALIFAX Former Ontario cabinet minister Tony Clement has capitalized on an anybody-but-Stephen Harper sentiment among Nova Scotia Tories, drawing surprising support for his bid to lead the new Conservative Party of Canada. Several current and former provincial cabinet ministers at the provincial party's annual meeting in Halifax said yesterday they had been swayed and will support Mr. Clement at next month's convention. His most high-profile booster in the province is Health Minister Angus Maclsaac, who said Mr.

Clement's lack of media attention may actually have given him a bit of an underdog status. "The media aren't the people who are going to vote at the convention," said Mr. Maclsaac. "I'm really pleased with the reaction of people here this weekend. They want to talk about him.

They're warming up to him, despite the fact he's not CLAUDIA DAUT, REUTERS aspects of the Dalai Lama's visit. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, one of the MPs who signed the letter encouraging contact with the Dalai Lama, has no plans to meet with the Tibetan leader, a spokesman said. The Dalai Lama, who along with 80,000 other Tibetans has been living in exile from Tibet since 1959, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his efforts to resolve the ongoing acrimony between Tibet and the People's Republic of China. WITH FILES FROM THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE Lama and China, which occupied Tibetan territory in 1949. Representatives of the committee said 126 members of Parliament, including some who have become cabinet ministers, have over the years signed a letter encouraging high-level contact with the Dalai Lama.

"The prime minister says he wants to make sure we play in important role in the world and here is someone who is considered a world leader," says Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal, the former natural resources minister who is now sitting on a parliamentary committee organizing Mi tfifti JA.