February 18, 2024
Dear CEO & President Taylor
We further clarify and emphasize:
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians – Canada (“ICJP – Canada”) has provided the Government of Canada with notice of intent to seek the prosecution of Canadian officials who are allegedly complicit in Israel’s war crimes. ICJP Canada is also considering expanding the scope of its initiative to pursue accountability of Canadian companies who are allegedly complicit in Israel’s war crimes. Like Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court applies to both state actors and private individuals. The latter makes it an offence to, “aid, abet or otherwise assist,” in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We look forward to any clarification about OPTT investments.
February 13, 2024
Jo Taylor
President and CEO, OTPP
Dear President & CEO Taylor
We are writing to you with regard to OTPP investment in funds related to Israeli-occupied Palestine and Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
We have been monitoring the human rights situation in the occupied Palestine territory (oPt) and the occupied Syrian Golan and are concerned about investments within public sector pension board portfolios such as the OTPP that may facilitate activity that constitutes a war crime under international law.
Based the OTPP’s most recent filing with the UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FORM 13F, OTPP seems to be invested in four companies that are listed in the United Nations (UN) Database of companies complicit with human rights violations
The UN Database was released on February 12, 2020 in the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/43/71) after the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the oPt, including East Jerusalem. There are current 97 companies included on the UN list.
This investigation followed the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 31/36 which defined the Database by reference to specific human rights violations include the following:
(a) The supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the expansion of settlements and the wall, and associated infrastructure.
(b) The supply of surveillance and identification equipment for settlements, the wall and checkpoints directly linked with settlements;
(c) The supply of equipment for the demolition of housing and property, the destruction of agricultural farms, greenhouses, olive groves and crops;
(d) The supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in settlements;
(e) The provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport;
(f) Banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities, including loans for housing and the development of businesses;
(g) The use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes;
(h) Pollution, and the dumping of waste in or its transfer to Palestinian villages;
(i) Captivity of the Palestinian financial and economic markets, as well as practices that disadvantage Palestinian enterprises, including through restrictions on movement, administrative and legal constraints;
(j) The use of benefits and reinvestments of enterprises owned totally or partially by settlers for developing, expanding and maintaining the settlements.
UN Security Council resolution 2334 (2016) reaffirmed that settlements have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation under international law.
OTPP investments that are on the United Nations Database:
OTTP based on its UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FORM 13F filing is invested in the following companies that are listed on the UN Database of business enterprises considered to be in violation of international law.
| Company: | Value (Canadian dollars) | # Shares: |
| AirBNB (part 1) | $2,166,546 | 15,790 |
| AirBNB (part 2) | 1,765,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Booking Holdings | 4,215,760 | 1,367 |
| Expedia Group Inc | 3,145,799 | 30,521 |
| TripAdvisor Inc | 1,724,917 | 104,036 |
| TripAdvisor Inc | 1,690,500 | 2,000,000 |
| Totals | $14,708,522 |
Note: information about the companies, verified by Who Profits, an independent Israeli research organization as per links provided with each of companies listed.
You can review the details associated with each of these companies listed on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report. You will note that all have been complicit under reason (e) “the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport.”
Given that the aggregate investments are a very small proportion of the $250 Billion OTPP portfolio, it seems it is a simple move for OTPP to divest from companies that have been named as complicit in acts contributing to the maintenance of illegal settlements.
Beyond this, our analysis of Form 13F shows that OTPP invested in 14 additional companies deemed by AFSC Investigate to have substantial, ongoing, and intentional complicity in severe violations of human rights and international law related to occupied Palestine and the Syrian Golan.
These include:
| Company | Value(Canadian dollars) | # Shares: |
| Alphabet Inc | $601,544,576 | 4,596,856 |
| Chevron Corp | 354,945 | 2,105 |
| Cisco Systems | 5,420,137 | 100,821 |
| Exxon Mobil | 1,538,534 | 13,085 |
| General Electric | 1,824,187 | 16,504 |
| Hewlett Packard | 819,134 | 47,158 |
| L3Harris Technologies | 1,936,911 | 11,124 |
| Northrop Grumman | 2,355,897 | 5,352 |
| Textron | 5,323,678 | 68,130 |
| Valero Energy | 652,433 | 4,604 |
| Lockheed Martin | 2,983,363 | 7,295 |
| Honeywell* | 2,987,246 | 16,170 |
| ZIM INTEGRATED SHIPPING** | 767,584 | 73,453 |
| Total | $628,508,625 |
*World BEYOND War
**Shipping company complicit with transport of arms to/from Israel and settlement goods
All other companies included on AFSC Investigate and many also on Who Profits.
Note: information about the mentioned companies have been verified by Who Profits, an independent Israeli research organization and/or the American Friends Service Committee “Investigate” as per links provided with each of the companies listed.
Total for the investments listed on the UN database as well as these others verified by AFSC Investigate and other sources is $642.7 M Million. We note this is less than .5% of the OTPP portfolio so would expect that these adjustments could be made quite easily.
As a result:
1. We would ask that the OTPP take immediate steps to divest from the funds listed by the UN database, and to do a review to ensure no other investments are included now or into the future from the UN Database.
2. We also note that companies from the UN Database in the may be included in other indices, and so would ask that you review your current holdings and remove any that have companies from the UN Database, and put a transparent public process in place to ensure that these funds do not include any investments from the list going forward.
3. Divest from the companies identified through other sources such as AFSC Investigate, and put in place a transparent process to ensure that companies are vetted for violations of human rights and international law. This would involve reporting back publicly on the review you committed to undertake.
The concerns that we raise are in the broader context of ethical investment related to OTPP public pension fund investment.
We ask the OTPP to take all steps necessary to ensure that the activities of all companies included in all of its portfolio are in compliance with international law governing war crimes. We remind you that in Canada, parties that are complicit in war crimes are liable to criminal prosecution under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act,[1] including corporations.[2]
Also, we remind you that under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all high signatories in which Canada is one, are required to take actions to ensure that violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not occur under any circumstance.
We further remind you that, ever since the Quebec Superior Court’s decision in Bil’in (Village Council) v. Green Park International Inc.,[3] it is also possible for a corporation to be held liable in a civil lawsuit in Canadian courts for complicity in a war crime. Although the Bil’in case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, Canadian courts in recent years have shown increasing willingness to assert jurisdiction over the overseas activities of Canadian companies where violations of human rights and international law are concerned,[4] and it is far from certain that the same result would be obtained now.
We also remind you that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has made a provisional ruling related to South Africa’s submission in regard to Israel committing genocide, and that Nicaragua has submitted a case to the ICJ in regard to Canada’s complicity with genocide. As well, ICJP Canada has provided notice of intent to Canadian officials to proceed to the International Criminal Court, and the Canadian Lawyer for International Human Rights has provided notice to the Canadian government in regard to prosecution related to export of arms to Israel.
We are sure that OTPP would not want to have any companies within its portfolio that would be a violation of international law.
OTPP is entrusted with a fiduciary trust public pension plan and would be expected to undertake enhanced due diligence to ensure that its investments in conflict affected areas are in line with Canada’s responsibility under international and domestic law.
We would be grateful for any information you could provide us in response to our concerns, and if you would like to discuss the matter further, we are available to meet with you.
Response can be made to:
Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
[1] S.C. 2000, c. 24.
[2] R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, ss. 22.1-22.2.
[3] 2009 QCCS 4151 at para. 176.
[4] See e.g. Garcia v. Tahoe Resources Inc., 2017 BCCA 39; Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd., 2017 BCCA 401 (pending appeal on different issue).
