One resolution expected to generate debate at the meeting of the General Synod will likely change dramatically in the wake of the pension committee’s decision to pull its investments out of a controversial oil company.
The pension committee of the Anglican Church of Canada quietly began divesting its holdings in Talisman Energy Inc recently. The announcement of the divestment came in a June 11 memo to members of the church’s pension committee.
Stating that the committee’s trustees believed that the move would not “jeopardize their fiduciary obligations,” pension director Jenny Mason wrote that the fund’s managers had been instructed to divest as soon as possible. Ms. Mason could not be reached for comment.
Many church factions urged the pension committee in recent years to pull its investments from the Calgary-based company, which has been accused of human rights abuses in Sudan.
The Canadian House of Bishops and the dioceses in British Columbia and the Yukon had recently called on the committee to divest. The national church’s eco-justice committee and the church’s development arm, the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, were co-sponsoring a General Synod resolution asking the pension committee, Anglican parishes and other church organizations to withdraw their investments from Talisman.
Since the General Synod resolution also refers to Anglican parishes and other church organizations, it will not be withdrawn but amended to commend the pension committee for its decision, said Maylanne Maybee, the church’s mission and justice education co-ordinator.
Ms. Maybee added that the amended resolution will likely urge the pension committee to reconvene the Socially Responsible Investment Group, a church body created in 1998 which has not met for more than a year.
In the June 11 memo to members of the pension committee, director Jenny Mason also reported that the committee’s board of trustees will present a draft of an ethical investment policy to the fall, 2001 meeting of the Council of General Synod. The Council, the church’s decision-making body, usually meets twice a year between triennial General Synods.
General Synod meets in Waterloo, Ont., from July 4-11, 2001.
Interested in keeping up-to-date on news, opinion, events and resources from the Anglican Church of Canada? Sign up for our email alerts .