The top investments by elected officials across Canada, both provincially and federally, reveal much about the motivations of legislation in Ottawa around banking, big tech, and big oil.
Using The Data Trail, On the Trail's databank of investments, government contracts, and lobbying, we have found that the top five stocks invested in by elected officials are exclusively banks. The rest of the top 20 is dominated by tech and fossil fuels.
Please note that if our database is picking up these stocks, for Federal officials means they have more than $10,000 invested in each individual stock (provincial values vary and are often around ~$2000+). We also do not have tracking on their mutual funds, since these are not available as tickers on the New York or Toronto stock exchange.
We have also launched the Investor Leaderboard, now available to all subscribers.
It is unsurprising to see the number of elected officials who are invested in RBC and the other banks. Duff Conacher, an expert on democratic accountability and co-founder of Democracy Watch said it isn't surprising then that Canadians experience "gouging, discrimination, and other abuses by the big banks."
It is across most provinces, as well as across every party line. The same is the case for our elected officials who invest in the other banks. Over the past year most of these banks have seen an increase of more than sixty points on the stock market. Their performance has been consistent, with little interruption to their constant increase.
