Tag: divest concordia

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Students from the geography department strike for more climate action

According to protesters, Concordia would be able to divest faster than their target five-year plan.

“What do we want? Divestment! When do we want it? Now!” chanted students from the Geography Undergrad Student Society (GUSS) on Friday during a strike.

The 25 students who gathered at the Henry F. Hall building’s ninth floor were urging the university to divest faster than their previously announced five-year plan.

The Concordia University Foundation sent a press release in November presenting its divestment plan in all of its investments from the coal, oil and gas sectors before 2025, reported The Concordian.

“We want to make sure that Concordia is held accountable in this divestment protest, so making it as fast as possible and have real binding agreements, because historically, they had been kind of lax,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous for privacy purposes with the university. Other striking students asked to remain anonymous and not have their faces shown on camera for the same reasons

In 2016, the university had already established a joint sustainable investment advisory committee to “make recommendations to their respective governing bodies on socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities” reported Concordia News. The committee included representatives from the student body like the Concordia Student Union, the Graduate Student Association and Divest Concordia.

“The Concordia University Foundation publishes an annual report which includes audited financial statements,” wrote Concordia’s spokesperson Vannina Maestracci in an email to The Concordian. “The Foundation will continue to provide these annual reports which serve to assess its investments.”

The students were handing out pamphlets with their demands that the university be held accountable for divestment at the fastest rate possible through a student-faculty body that oversees divestment, by implementing binding agreements and and that the measures taken would be communicated to students with full transparency.

The protesters claim that Concordia would be able to divest way faster than the planned rate and that a lot of information regarding the process is not publicly shared.

“We believe that five years is the time it will take to replace our remaining exposure to coal, oil and gas,” wrote Concordia’s spokesperson. “If we can do it sooner, all the better. For us, it’s not simply about withdrawing investments from coal, oil and gas. It is also about finding the new investments that are sustainable and benefit our community in terms of research, teaching and charitable programs.”

Students are also demanding that Concordia declares climate emergency in which they would implement more binding language. However, Concordia has already done that last September.

“We signed a climate emergency declaration with nine other Quebec universities by which we committed to more sustainability education and research, and carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest,” wrote Concordia’s spokesperson.

The strike had been previously voted upon unanimously by the GUSS during a general assembly.

“In geography, there’s a desire for climate action in our education and sort of what the professors are learning and researching on,” said the student.

Although no other events have been planned yet, the geography student body said it is not willing to back away until Concordia takes serious action.

 

Photo by Jad Abukasm

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News

Concordia announces plan to divest

The Concordia University Foundation announced its intention to withdraw all of its investments from the coal, oil and gas sector before 2025.

The Concordia University Foundation plans to be the first Quebec university with 100 per cent sustainable investments within five years. Currently, $14 million of Concordia’s $243 million assets is going into the coal, gas and oil sectors.

“We believe that being socially and environmentally responsible in our investments is the surest way to be Concordia University’s best possible fund management partner,” said Howard Davidson, Chair of the Board of the Concordia University Foundation, in a press release Friday. “Investing in sustainability is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”

While Concordia cancelled classes for the climate strike on Sept. 27, some questioned why the university still invested in fossil fuels, as pointed out by Jacob Robitaille, internal coordinator of Concordia’s La Planète s’invite à l’Université in a previous interview with The Concordian.

“It doesn’t send a straightforward message,” Robitaille said of Concordia’s environmental position.

But now, the university is aiming to double investments that generate social and environmental impact with a financial return. For instance, Concordia partnered earlier this year with Inerjys Ventures, a global investment fund promoting the adoption of clean tech.

“It’s a social movement as much as a financial one, and this announcement has a lot of power for the climate justice movement across the country,” said Divest Concordia representative Emily Carson-Apstein. “We’re looking forward to keeping the students updated as this process goes on.”

“Promoting sustainability and fighting climate change are priorities for the Concordia community,” said Concordia’s interim President Graham Carr in a press release. “Our researchers, students, faculty and staff are all engaged around this issue and want to be part of the solution. The Foundation’s commitments are crucial next steps in our sustainability journey.”

Student organizations, such as Divest Concordia have long advocated for the withdrawal of the university from those investments. In a previous article for The Concordian, Alex Hutchins reported that since its creation in 2013, Divest Concordia has been continually pressuring the foundation to freeze its assets.

In 2014, the student-run group joined forces with the CSU to create the Joint Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee (JSIAC). Now, they see their own $10 million investment in sustainable funds from 2017 as laying the groundwork for the university’s decision, Divest Concordia explained in a statement sent to The Concordian.

“This has always been an issue of priorities, and it’s great that the foundation agrees with what the students have been shouting about for years,” said Emily Carson-Apstein, the Divest Concordia representative on the committee. “It’s a social movement as much as a financial one, and this announcement has a lot of power for the climate justice movement across the country. We’re looking forward to keeping the students updated as this process goes on.”

Long-time member of Divest Concordia Nicolas Chevalier agrees. “Concordia has finally decided to listen to the voices of the student body and align their investment portfolio in a way that doesn’t fund our collective demise. Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time, and the institutions that produce research on this crisis should strive to align their operations with the science, fossil fuel divestment is no exception.”

Divest Concordia members work across multiple environmental advocacy organizations. Hania Peper, a representative of Divest Concordia and LPSU (La planète s’invite à l’Université), was hopeful in the wake of Concordia’s decision: “Last week, Concordia took its first true steps towards addressing climate injustice by divesting from an industry that has been funding both climate change and the degradation of human and environmental communities all over the globe. While the ripple effects of this decision have yet to be seen, I’m hopeful that this can serve as inspiration for other Canadian universities to follow-suit and begin divesting from fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.”

This article is an updated version from a previous article published on Nov. 8

Feature graphic by @sundaeghost

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Student Life

Divest Concordia spreads its wings

Graphic by @spooky_soda

A hilariously well-networked class reignites the fossil fuel divest movement

Since the formation of Divest Concordia in 2013, the student-run group has been continuously pressuring the Concordia University Foundation (CUF) to freeze current investments in the fossil fuel industry and withdraw all future investments from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. The CUF makes all decisions regarding the university’s $185.9 million endowment fund, which is invested in various stocks and bonds that generate funding for scholarships, bursaries and research coming out of Concordia. Approximately 10 per cent of the endowment fund “may have some connection with fossil fuels,” according to former University Spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr.

Research and mobilization around the divest movement has largely been undertaken by student-run groups like Divest Concordia, Sustainable Concordia, and the Concordia Student Union (CSU) in 2016, when the CSU adopted divestment as their annual campaign. However, in January 2019, a group of students enrolled in a 400-level interdisciplinary geography course began brainstorming ways to utilize the class’s resources and networks to reignite the divest movement at Concordia.

“It’s a methodology class where students learn about how to do research that supports, and is engaged with the work of a social justice institution,” said Kevin Gould, an associate professor in the geography, planning and environment department, who created the shell of the course. “The class has become a space where people that have this common interest [of divestment] have been able to engage with each other—to learn, to think, to plan,” said Gould. Students are currently in the early stages of developing scopes of research that examine potential avenues for furthering the divestment movement on campus.

Concordia University Foundation common shares investment breakdown 2010-11. Graph illustration by Loreanna Lastoria

Emily Carson-Apstein, who works closely with Divest Concordia and is the external campaigns coordinator for Sustainable Concordia, was a key member in helping Gould structure the class around divestment. Carson-Apstein said that having the CSU campaigns department working with Divest Concordia meant there was a lot of people-power behind the movement. “[The divest movement] is smaller than it was in 2016 […] but it’s definitely still present,” they said. “It’s more in a negotiation phase than a public education phase.”

Increasing student awareness of the urgent need for full fossil fuel divestment, community mobilization and conveying the message that Concordia is not an institution completely committed to a sustainable economic future are a few of the goals the geography class hopes to help Divest Concordia with.

In 2014, Concordia boasted the creation of a socially responsible investment (SRI) fund of $5 million, which would transfer funds from existing assets to be reinvested in “environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors,” according to the university’s website. Divest Concordia representatives at the time condemned the foundation’s decision, saying it was “a flat-out rejection of student calls for full divestment from fossil fuels,” according to Newswire. Noting the distinction between sustainable investment versus fossil fuel divestment is pertinent, as sustainable investment is used as a redirection tactic to avoid addressing the foundation’s continued investment in the fossil fuel industry.

Despite heavy criticism from Divest Concordia, Concordia was praised by some of the wider Montreal community for exhibiting sustainable leadership. The Montreal Gazette published an article on Dec. 2, 2014 claiming that Concordia was the first university in the country to begin taking steps towards divesting from fossil fuels. However, it is important to note the CUF is able to continue to invest in the fossil fuel industry while simultaneously contributing to the SRI fund, as well as other sustainable investment endeavours. In February 2016, the foundation created the Joint Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee (JSIAC) in response to increased pressure from Divest Concordia, Sustainable Concordia, and the student body to fully divest. Divest Concordia and Sustainable Concordia each occupy a seat on JSIAC, and the committee is the only channel of communication either organization has to the foundation’s board of directors. JSIAC’s influence over the board and its investment decisions regarding the endowment fund ends at making recommendations to the foundation.

Concordia University Foundation common shares investment breakdown 2011-12. Graph illustration by Loreanna Lastoria.

In an interview with The Concordian, Carson-Apstein stated that the yet-to-be released 2018 annual report estimate of the endowment fund is approximately $218 million, from what the CUF has informed Divest Concordia. In terms of financial transparency, the foundation has continually failed to clearly state which sectors of the economy it’s invested in since 2011, particularly with regards to energy resources. According to the foundation’s 2010-11 financial report, Canadian common share investments in oil and gas were about $9.1 million, investments in pipelines were about $2.6 million, and investments in metals and minerals were about $2.2 million.

However, in the foundation’s 2011-12 annual report, categories such as ‘oil and gas,’ ‘pipelines,’ and ‘metals and minerals’ cannot be found in the common share investment breakdown. Instead, the report vaguely shows an $11.7 million investment in the relatively ambiguous category titled ‘energy.’ According to the foundation’s 2016-17 annual report, a total of about $10 million in both Canadian and U.S. common share investments fall under the categories ‘energy,’ ‘materials,’ and ‘industrials.’ On Feb. 11, 2019, Concordia announced it is the first Canadian university to issue a $25 million sustainable bond, due by 2039, which will allow the university to finance the new Science Hub at Loyola. However, there have been no discussions of the more than $10 million continued investment in what is arguably the fossil fuel industry.

Carson-Apstein explained that a major challenge faced by Divest Concordia over the years has been institutional memory; the passing down of information and strategies from graduating students to newly engaged students. “Most of the folks who were founders of Divest Concordia have moved on by now,” they said. “But I think Kevin’s class is amazing […] It’s super cool that the work that’s happening in the classroom is going to be directly relevant to stuff that’s happening in the world right now.” Drawing attention to the discrepancies and financial patterns of the foundation’s annual reports is one of many strategies the geography class will use to shed light on the realities of Concordia’s investment practices, and continue pushing for full fossil fuel divestment.

Divest Concordia meets every Monday at 4:30 p.m. to discuss news, ideas and strategies. Meetings are held at 2090 McKay St. in the Z Annex on the top floor for anyone who wants to join the fight.

Feature graphic by @sundaeghost

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News

Divest Concordia stopped from mobilizing

Leonard and Ringland photographed outside the elevators of GM. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Security blocked entry of elevators where BOG meeting was held

Divest Concordia protested outside the Board of Governors (BOG) meeting on March 8 as a means to push the BOG to put Divest Concordia on their agenda. However, Divest members were met with Concordia security, who blocked access to the entrance of the fourth floor of the GM building.

“The president explained that the restricted access measures were in response to advice following last week’s events,” Concordia University Spokesperson Chris Mota told The Concordian, referencing the bomb threat at Concordia on March 1, which targeted the Muslim community. “High profile meetings can attract copycat attention and we wanted to ensure the meeting could be held without incident,” said Mota.

Divest Concordia decided to protest due to a lack of effort made by the BOG to give Divest time during the board’s meeting on March 8, said Kya Ringland, a member of Divest Concordia and an organizer of the mobilization.

Emails were sent to Concordia president Alan Shepard and the president of the BOG, among others. Divest Concordia sent them on Feb. 26, however, the administration did not respond until the day before the BOG meeting. The response, from assistant secretary-general Danielle Tessier, stated that Divest Concordia’s request to have their concerns added to the meeting’s agenda was being reviewed by the BOG.

Divest members intended to stand outside the BOG meeting to deliver informational postcards signed by more than 300 students, detailing concerns over the delay of Concordia’s divestment from the gas and fossil fuel industries, said Ringland. More importantly, Ringland added, the postcards urged the university to move forward with the sustainability policy, which is meant to facilitate sustainable initiatives at Concordia.

One of the goals of the sustainability policy is to divest from gas and fossil fuels and instead to invest in sustainable initiatives. The policy will also look into opportunities to fund socially and environmentally responsible projects, according to Concordia News.

The Joint Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee (JSIAC), composed of members of Concordia student organizations, including Divest Concordia, and the BOG, will review these initiatives.

Ringland said board members of the JSIAC asked other members to research sustainable investment opportunities Concordia could fund with the money removed from the fossil fuel and gas industries.

“Our Divest members [have been asked] to do research in alternative investments, which is great. We’re happy to partner with people to do that,” Ringland said. “Our members have done that and brought the research to the JSIAC, and it has just kind of been disregarded and not talked about anymore.”

Ringland said the same has happened for Sustainable Concordia. “They have looked at alternative investments, and no follow-up has been made on any of them,” she said. “Many other students and faculty members have put forth research and solutions––including the CSU.”

However, Ringland said she believes efforts should be made outside of student and faculty members. “We feel all members of JSIAC should be doing research into alternatives [and] bringing alternative solutions forward,” said Ringland. “Board members and admin should be a part of this process.”

Tessier said the JSIAC will be meeting shortly to make recommendations to the Concordia University Foundation and other stakeholders with regards to Concordia’s commitment to sustainable investing.

Leonard handing postcards to BOG representative. Photo by Savanna Craig

Divest member Alex Leonard said he hopes members of the BOG will see the group’s postcards. He said it is important to have the BOG “open to hearing what the student body is saying, as opposed to creating barriers where these public meetings are now high-security.”

“I think that [the BOG is] taking steps in the right direction, and I want to believe that they have the good of Concordia’s community in mind,” Ringland said. “I think that that’s going to be happening more—they’re actually holding consultations in the next two months with Concordia students, so those will be good.”

Ringland said divestment is an issue that’s becoming more severe due to climate change. “I think most of the Concordia community knows, and so we just want to make sure that [the BOG] realize how urgent it is and use that urgency to dictate their daily decisions,” Ringland said.

Before the Divest Concordia members left, a representative from the BOG came down to ask Divest members what they wanted to say to the governors. Divest Concordia members chose to let the postcards speak for them—Leonard handed the postcards to the representative.
Divest Concordia will hold their next meeting on March 17 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m in the CSU art nook, adjacent to People’s Potato on the 7th floor of the Hall building.

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Students vote YES to divest

Divest Concordia poses for a picture after a meeting. Photo courtesy of Divest Concordia

Divest Concordia receives a green light from students to push university away from fossil fuels

Student group Divest Concordia had a positive outcome to their referendum questions to push Concordia to divest its holdings from fossil fuel industries. Both questions received support from the majority of voters. The campaign officially started on Nov. 1, and ended Nov. 14. Students voted between Nov 15 and 17.

The first referendum question focused on the university’s investments currently tied to fossil fuel industries. They asked undergraduate students whether or not they agreed with Divest Concordia’s demand for the university to remove all its investments from these industries, and to reinvest this money in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

The second referendum question focused on the divest campaign itself. It asked undergraduates if they believe the Concordia Student Union should actively support the divest campaign until the university commits to full divestment from fossil fuels and related industries.

Eighty per cent of voters supported the first question and 70 per cent of voters supported the Divest campaign, said Aloyse Muller, CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator. Only Concordia undergraduate students were able to vote on the matter since this was a CSU referendum, Muller said.

Over the last weeks, Divest Concordia held various meetings to organize the campaign. Tabea Vischer, chair of the referendum committee told The Concordian they created a “social media stunt” where the group posted photos on social media where people from the Concordia community depicted why Concordia should support divest.

“It’s important that we keep the momentum that was built up during the campaign going,” said Vischer. Their next event will be a visioning workshop, where next semester’s projects, such as general student outreach and possibilities for collaborations will be discussed.

The Concordia University Foundation (CUF) currently has $10 million in funding to spend in the “energy sector.” On the “Vote YES to Fossil Fuel Divestment” Facebook page set up to promote the referendum, Divest Concordia wrote “the university’s active investment in the fossil fuel industry represents a commitment to a failing system that misrepresents our community’s real intentions and values.”

“Anyone who wants to get involved with Divest is welcome to join our general meetings to get an idea of what we do and how they can get involved,” Vischer said. Information about the meetings can be found on the Divest Facebook page.

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A push for Concordia to divest

Divest Concordia’s upcoming referendum campaign will begin on Nov. 1. Photo by Ana Hernandez.

Divest Concordia gears up for their upcoming referendum campaign in November

Divest Concordia discussed plans for their upcoming referendum campaign starting Nov. 1, where students will vote if they want Concordia to divest from fossil fuels––a victory in the referendum will oblige the Concordia Student Union (CSU) to officially endorse the movement. The final decision, however, still rests with the school’s administration.

At a meeting on Oct. 27, Divest Concordia members brainstormed strategies to promote the “Yes” side of the referendum. Members proposed ideas such as classroom visits, open letters to the student press and information booths.

Divest Concordia will begin campaigning from Nov. 1 until Nov. 14, followed by polling taking place between Nov. 15-17.

“We do believe that support will lean significantly on the side of divestment,” said Eamon Toohey, a spokesperson for the campaign. He praised the global divestment movement as being “not just environmentally necessary but economically sound and feasible.”

The Concordia University Foundation has already diverted $5 million to a Sustainable Investment Fund as a pilot project. In an interview with Business News Network in March 2015, the foundation’s president, Bram Freedman, confirmed that this fund had outperformed the rest of the university’s funds since its creation in 2014. He cited the poor market performance of oil and gas as a possible cause. “Given the performance in the oil and gas industry in the last little while, our sustainable investment fund is outperforming our regular fund,” said Freedman in the interview.

Other issues related to the divestment movement were discussed at the meeting, including a discrepancy between investment figures given by Divest Concordia and those provided by the university. Divest, citing research by Concordia part-time sociology and anthropology professor Erik Chevrier, said the university currently has about $12 million invested in fossil fuels. However, the Concordia University Foundation’s annual report lists the university’s total energy investments as only $1.9 million in 2015.

According to Marcus Peters, a Divest Concordia spokesperson, this figure of $12 million is partially based on estimates of how much third-party firms invest in fossil fuels. “[Concordia] started to have other firms handle their investments, and those don’t actually have to disclose their investment portfolio,” he explained. “So there’s a huge transparency issue going on there because we don’t actually know what it’s invested in, and I don’t think [the administrators] do either.”

Photo by Ana Hernandez.

In September, The Concordian met with Concordia President Alan Shepard and discussed divestment within Concordia. “We’re the first Canadian university to set aside some funds that were not invested in the fossil fuels sector,” said Shepard. “Other institutions followed soon after we made that move.”

The first move of divestment was made in December 2014, university spokesperson Chris Mota said at the time. “In time we will add to it,” said Shepard.

The global divestment movement has diverted $3.4 trillion worth of investments from the fossil fuel industry to date, according to gofossilfree.org. However, this gesture is largely symbolic because companies are not directly affected financially by the trading of their stock—a diversion of $3.4 trillion does not indicate a $3.4 trillion loss for the industry. However, as Peters explained, “The point isn’t to economically bankrupt them, it’s to politically and socially bankrupt them.”
Peters also noted that promoting competing industries can have financial consequences for fossil fuel companies. “Half of it is getting [institutions] to divest, but the other half is getting them to invest in [socially responsible companies], in the new social economy, in the renewable economy. So that’s one way you could see marginal gains being made financially against the industry, by helping to prop up the alternative.”

With files from Savanna Craig

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Divest is back and looking for transparency

Members of Divest Concordia at the meeting. Photo by Ana Hernandez.

Mobilization continues for full divestment from fossil fuels in Concordia University

Divest Concordia welcomed new members at its first General Assembly this past Thursday. The group has three goals this semester: to freeze all of Concordia’s new investments in the fossil fuel industry, to divest from the top 200 fossil fuel companies by 2020, and to increase the transparency of the university’s investments.

Divest Concordia has been working with the university, urging them to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in sustainable practices since 2013.

In 2011, Concordia had $11 million invested into the energy sector, particularly in oil, gas, and pipelines. Since 2014, there has been a shift in where the money has been invested. The Joint Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee (JSIAC), was created in 2014 to help reinvest $5 million into sustainable practices, and Divest Concordia was given a seat on the committee. JSIAC’s mandate is to make recommendations to respective governing bodies on environmentally and socially responsible investment opportunities, according to Concordia’s website.

By 2015, Concordia had lowered their investment in fossil fuels significantly, and now has just over $2 million invested in the energy sector, according to their 2015 Annual Report. The 2016 Annual Report numbers have yet to be released. While progress has been made, Divest Concordia wants to aim even higher.

“We want full divestment,” said Isabella Harned, the external coordinator and campaign coordinator at Sustainable Concordia and member of Divest Concordia. “We’re going for visibility on campus—that’s our main goal and intention for this semester.”

Divest Concordia also wants more transparency from the university, Harned said. Concordia may be investing far less in the energy sector as a whole, but it is no longer clear how much is exactly being invested into oil, gas or pipelines. Their 2009-10 annual report listed exactly how much was being put into each type of energy. That transparency no longer exists, said Harned, as now everything is lumped under the vague category “Energy” in the reports.

“[The investments] could be in oil and gas, or in green energy—we wouldn’t know”, said Jenna Cocullo, a Divest Concordia member.

“It’s hard to organize frequent meetings with administration,” added Harned.

This year, Divest Concordia organized an indigenous land defenders panel, a rap battle for climate justice at Reggies, a vegan lunch at orientation and made an appearance at Concordia’s annual shuffle between the Loyola and Sir George Williams campus to spread awareness about their goals.

Divest Concordia’s meetings are every Friday at 3 p.m., on the 7th floor of the Hall building next to People’s Potato.

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News

Campaigning for Concordia to divest from dirty industries

Divest Concordia

Divest Concordia, a coalition of students and community members formed this past winter, is working to have Concordia invest sustainably and responsibly. The hope is that Concordia will be the first Canadian university to divest from fossil fuel industries.

Divest Concordia, a coalition of students and community members formed this past winter, is working to have Concordia invest sustainably and responsibly. Photo by Keith Race.

“[Concordia] has the knowledge and expertise to do this. It’s a matter of having the will to do it,” said Anthony Garoufalis-Auger, organizer of the Divest Concordia information sessions held on Sept. 10 and 14.

The organization’s goal is for Concordia to divest completely from fossil fuel industries in three years time, with the first step being to freeze its investments with such companies. Garoufalis-Auger announced four reasons why it’s important to divest from dirty forms of energy: climate change, pollution, the geopolitics of oil and the fact that the oil industry undermines democracy.

At the moment, Concordia has an endowment fund, which Divest Concordia compares to a savings account, of about $100 million for investment. As it states in the Responsible Endowment Coalition’s Student Handbook, most schools care about growing their money as much as possible, even if this includes sending funds to “international projects that are environmentally or socially irresponsible.”

“We have about $11.7 million in fossil fuel industries. There’s about $9.1 million that’s invested in oil and gas and there’s about $2.6 million invested in pipelines,” said Garoufalis-Auger. Divest Concordia is currently submitting access to information requests to find out what specific companies the school is investing in.

The Board of Governors is responsible for deciding whether the university will abandon investing in fossil fuel industries. Divest Concordia is currently organizing a presentation in hopes the BOG will see the necessity to invest in renewable energies.

The organization wants the university to adopt a binding social and environmental responsibility policy, formulated by a committee with student representation, so that reinvesting in fossil fuels at a later date won’t be a possibility. They also want Concordia to make a public statement endorsing the divestment campaign and to encourage other universities to do the same.

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) support this campaign.

Six campuses across North America have already divested. McGill and the University of Toronto are among some Canadian universities that already have divestment campaigns.

“If we can be the first in Canada to divest, that’d be nice,” said Garoufalis-Auger.

He further explained that companies specializing in renewable forms of energy will be coming to Quebec, seeing as the government is looking to buy wind turbines and Quebec Premier Pauline Marois wants Quebec to invest in the electrification of public transport.

“Quebec has a lot of investment management firms that are signed on to [sustainable] principles and it’d be nice to see Concordia do the same,” said Garoufalis-Auger.

Divest Concordia is in the process of creating an advisory board. They currently have a worker specializing in social finance from the School of Community and Public Affairs.

Students are encouraged to get involved by spreading the word about divestment, sending a letter, and attending Divest Concordia’s weekly meetings on Fridays at 2 p.m.  at the GSA House, 2030 Mackay.

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