By CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees)
on October 18TH, 2024
The people responsible for safeguarding the retirement savings of 22 million Canadian workers lost more than $500 million investing in scandal-plagued Orpea, the largest for-profit long-term care company in Europe, as revealed in a report released today.
The scathing report by the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, CICTAR, exposes the Canada Public Pension Investment Board’s, CPPIB, financial and ethical failure. The CPPIB was the leading shareholder in Paris-based Orpea for the decade preceding events that rocked the long-term care sector in France. The company spent 2022 on the brink of bankruptcy, following an escalating scandal sparked by allegations of systemic elder abuse, financial mismanagement and fraud.
The CPPIB held two seats on Orpea’s board and, according to the report, did nothing to stop a pattern of criminal conduct and embezzlement by top management – including corruption, fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and the mistreatment of residents – that has seen the company’s former CEO and CFO spend time in jail.
CUPE has spoken out against private, for-profit ownership of long-term care facilities for decades now, and this scandal shows exactly why. The suffering and tragic loss of life in Orpea nursing homes is unacceptable. Canada’s public pension plan should never have been invested in a care industry designed to maximize profits rather than provide care and support to vulnerable people.
Mark Hancock, National President, CUPE
