Climate & Your Cash – Event Recap

On March 7th, the Convent Glen Orleans Wood Environment Committee co-hosted a Climate & Your Cash event at École secondaire Gisèle-Lalonde. The purpose of the event was to give practical information about how to do values-based investing, as well as how to better protect our homes from climate related events.

The event was the third in a series of 3 Climate & Your Cash events held in Ottawa in the past 5 months. The first was hosted by the Glebe Community Association. Using the funds that they obtained from the City’s Community Environmental Project Grants Program (CEPGP), the Glebe Community Association was able to cover most of the costs of their event, the second event held in Kanata and the last one in Orleans. The other organizers were the Greater Avalon Community Association, CAFES Ottawa and the Glebe Community Association.

The moderator for the bilingual session was the CGOW Environment Committee’s Chantal Boudreau. Chantal very adeptly managed the flow of all of the seven speakers. 

The first two speakers were a couple who shared their story of how they changed their investment strategy to better align with their values. My two main takeaways from that informal presentation were: (1) consider investing with credit unions rather than with the big banks and (2) don’t worry about having the perfect portfolio. Anyone can start with small steps and make improvements along the way. This journey may take place over many years, with adjustments being made as experience is gained.

The keynote speaker was Nicolas Demeulenaere of Desjardins Wealth Management in Montreal. Specifically, he is with the Leblanc Martineau St-Hilaire L’Heureux Group. Desjardins is far ahead of the big Canadian banks in its massive divestment away from fossil fuels. M. Demeulenaere is one of the managers of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Fund that examines the carbon footprint of the companies they include in their portfolio.  Their fund considers Canadian companies first and all of the companies are screened to make sure there is no money being made from fossil fuels, gambling, arms, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, pornography, animal cruelty, GMO or dangerous chemicals. They also examine how the company treats their employees, customers and stakeholders and whether they have transparent and ethical leadership. Also, their fund makes good returns for their investors, with an annual rate of return of 11% since 2019.

Next up was Liv Gauthier, Associate Financial Advisor with Co-operators’ BARAK Insurance and Financial Group in Kanata. Ms. Gauthier walked us through how her company, which is a cooperative, has environmentally friendly programs and advantages for their members. These include Enviroguard Coverage and Tomorrow Strong that provide extra money to homeowners who take preventative measures or who replace damaged assets with eco-friendly materials or with materials that better protect against extreme weather. Co-operators Insurance also has a Zero-waste initiative to divert waste and promote the circular economy. This initiative includes a partnership with Habitat for Humanity’s Restore. Furthermore, Co-operators offers discounts to owners of electric and hybrid vehicles. Check out the Co-operators website for more information on their eco-friendly programs, tools and networks.

Marion Siekierski is the General Manager at Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative (OREC), OREC is a for-profit co-operative that develops and purchases community-owned renewable energy projects such as solar panel installations, battery storage and wind turbines. One of their latest projects involved the installation of a huge solar panel array covering the roof of the Canada Science and Technology Museum. OREC is able to pool together member investments to develop and install projects that will move our city towards a more decentralized and sustainable energy supply. Profits made from these clean energy projects are given back to their members. 

The last two investors were Mike Bulthuis from the Ottawa Community Land Trust and Sarah Buttons from Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation. Together, these two non-profit organizations build, purchase, preserve and manage affordable housing land and units in Ottawa. They do this in part by raising funds by selling Housing Forever Bonds, which return profits to investors from rental revenue earned. More information about how you can invest in Housing Forever Bonds and help to address Ottawa’s housing crisis can be found on their respective websites.

Thank you to all the speakers and volunteers that made this event such a success. I found it to be a very interesting and informative morning that has inspired me to take action in my own life. Over time, as more and more of us seek out these types of sustainable investments, the more institutions will want to make them available.