moved for leave to introduce Bill C-295, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act (investments).
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to reintroduce an NDP bill brought forward in the last session by my former colleague, Alistair MacGregor, that would ensure investments made on behalf of Canadians through the Canada pension plan reflect our country's commitment to human rights, workers' rights and environmental responsibility.
I want to thank my colleague, the member for Courtenay—Alberni, for seconding this bill. He is always a champion for the people and for justice.
The Canada pension plan is a cornerstone of retirement security for millions of Canadians. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board manages hundreds of billions of dollars on behalf of contributors and beneficiaries. Canadians should be able to have confidence that their retirement savings are not being invested in entities that engage in serious violations of human, labour or environmental rights.
This legislation would require the investment policy, standards and procedures of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to provide that investments could not be made or held in entities where there are reasons to believe the entity has committed human, labour or environmental rights violations.
The bill would also prohibit investment in entities involved in the production of arms, ammunition or other implements of war prohibited under international law, as well as entities responsible for directing certain forms of corruption prohibited under Canadian law.
This is fundamentally about accountability and responsible investments, and with that scale comes responsibility. Our pension investments should not contribute to practices that violate fundamental human rights, undermine workers or damage the environment. I hope members of the House will support this important bill.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)