The AMS announced on Monday it had completely divested from holdings in companies that produce, transport, and dispense fossil fuels, becoming the first student government in Ontario to do so.
“This is meant to serve as a message and send a message to our industries, to our leaders, to our university, to our community, that students need to see action,” William Greene, AMS vice-president (University Affairs), said in an interview on Wednesday.
According to a statement sent to The Journal on Tuesday, in the year leading up to divestment, seven per cent of the Society’s equity investments were in oil and gas.
After repeated requests for a breakdown of the Society’s oil and gas holdings, the AMS provided a snapshot of investments it held at the time the final decision to divest was made. The snapshot shows investments in 20 oil and gas companies, and a bond in one.
The companies include Canadian Natural Resource, Ensign Energy Services, Husky Energy, Imperial Oil, Precision Drilling, Suncor Energy, ARC Resources, Enbridge, Inter Pipeline, Keyera, Peyto Exploration, Prairiesky Royalty, TC Energy, Tourmaline Oil, CNOOC, EOG RES, Hong Kong and China Gas, Schlumberger, Chevron, Concophillips, Halliburton Company and Alberta Mtn.
Prior to divestment, the AMS held interest in both the largest independent natural gas and heavy crude oil producer in Canada, Canadian Natural Resource, and the second-largest Canadian producer of oil, Suncor Energy.
The Society also held an investment in Imperial Oil, which The Journal reported finances more research at Queen’s than Canada’s ten largest fossil fuel companies combined. The company also holds the top spot among Canadian fossil fuel companies for donations provided to Queen’s.
On Sept. 24, the day after the AMS announced divestment, Ensign Energy Services, Precision Drilling, and Peyto Exploration & Development, were removed from Canada’s main stock index, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, due to their market capitalization dropping below minimum requirements.
On Wednesday, The Journal spoke with Auston Pierce, AMS president, Jessica Dahanayake, vice-president (Operations), and William Greene, vice-president (University Affairs), about the move to divest.
“It took a lot of research, we had to justify this to the board, and the board ended up being unanimous,” Pierce said. “There were questions about financial returns, we ended up getting projections that the returns wouldn’t have changed.”
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
When commenting, be considerate and respectful of writers and fellow commenters. Try to stay on topic. Spam and comments that are hateful or discriminatory will be deleted. Our full commenting policy can be read here.