Canada Should Take Note of La Caisse's Big Nuclear Investment in the UK

Barbara Shecter of the National Post reports that La Caisse's $3.2-billion investment in a nuclear project is the kind of deal Canada wants — too bad it's in the UK: The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ’s $3.2-billion investment in a new nuclear energy facility this week is the kind of deal Canada is hoping the country’s largest pensions and institutional investors will step up to fund — but it’s happening overseas, in England, alongside the U.K. government. The Quebec’s pension giant’s 20 per cent stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk was part of a final funding push to greenlight the project, of which the U.K. government owns 44.9 per cent. Once completed, the country’s first new nuclear plant since 1995 is expected to reduce carbon emissions and provide more than 60 years of “clean, reliable power to the U.K. grid, helping to boost the U.K.’s economy (and) strengthen energy security.” The deal is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: first...