Former prime minister Stephen Harper may become the new chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., following the UCP government’s dismissal last week of executives and entire board of the public sector pension fund manager.
Sources close to government say Premier Danielle Smith has wanted Harper to take on the role for some time, but issues about his own business activities needed to be resolved first. There’s no suggestion of anything improper in those activities, the sources told Postmedia, but AIMCo’s board members have to be free of any potential conflicts.
Harper’s potential involvement with AIMCo was first reported by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.
AIMCo is the sixth-largest pension fund in Canada and is responsible for overseeing the nearly $24-billion Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. It has a mandate to operate independently from the province.
Last week, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner dismissed AIMCo’s chief executive Evan Siddall and the entire board, citing poor performance on investments from the $169-billion public pension fund’s 11-person board, its CEO and three executives. Horner cited frustration with AIMCo’s increasingly high costs and what he called an over-reliance on third-party money managers.
Ray Gilmour, a longtime Alberta government bureaucrat, was appointed interim CEO of the Edmonton-based Crown corporation last Friday, while Horner is acting as caretaker board chair.
Harper’s membership with AIMCo still isn’t confirmed, Postmedia has learned, but the government intends to announce the new board next week.
Harper, who as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada served three terms as prime minister from 2006 to 2015, is currently the chair and CEO of Harper & Associates Consulting. According to its website, the global consulting and strategic advisory business provides advice and counsel to business leaders in the financial services, technology and energy sectors.
The firm did not immediately reply to Postmedia’s request for comment.
— With files from Matt Scace