He does have a close relationship with the Minister of Finance, that is true, so maybe that is enough to qualify a person for that 12-person board. That is the reason they chose 12 people: that was how many Liberal political hacks were out of work at the time and needed patronage appointments. This is why we are critical.
We have $53 billion there, which is soon to be $120 billion. Can members imagine the responsibility of investing $120 billion to $150 billion on behalf of working Canadians? It is a staggering duty and obligation. It takes a great deal of finesse and experience not to squander and lose it, like these guys have been losing it on the stock market, and as I have said, doubling their salaries in the meantime. The CEO's salary doubled even though they lost $1.5 billion the first year out. Somebody said to them, here is $11 billion, do not lose it, and they went and lost it. So we rewarded that by doubling his salary and doubling his performance bonus. It is like taking a cow to the market and trading it for three beans, none of which sprout. There is nothing to be rewarded here.
We have serious reservations about this. Personally I am furious about it. I sat as a trustee on a union pension fund. I know a bit about this kind of thing, and I also know about some of the ethical guidelines that we built into our trust documents because we chose not to invest in the tobacco industry, for instance. I do not care what the rate of return is at R.J. Reynolds. I do not think Canadians want their pension fund invested in the tobacco industry, because (a) it would be offshore, helping an industry in the United States, and (b) it is something that we ideologically do not support. But we will not have that opportunity.
There is another thing. This 12-person board, the one that is hemorrhaging money and bleeding like a cut vein, only has to report back to Canadians once every two years. Has anyone ever heard of a board of directors that does not have to come back to their shareholders except for once every two years?