Complaint to Colorado Attorney General by Friends of the Earth Canada and Friends of the Earth US
Phil Weiser
Office of the Attorney General
Colorado Department of Law
Ralph L. Carr Judicial Building
1300 Broadway, 10th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
5 August 2021
Dear Mr. Weiser,
On behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada and Friends of the Earth US, we are writing to formally request you investigate the legality of political contributions made by Crestone Peak Resources in 2018. We believe Crestone Peak Resources violated Colorado’s Revised Statues, Election Campaign Regulations, Article 45.[1]
Crestone Peak Resources meets the definition of a “Foreign corporation” because it is a “subsidiary of a parent corporation formed under the laws of a foreign country that is functionally equivalent to a domestic corporation”.
Crestone Peak Resources is a Colorado-based energy company focusing on the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in the Rocky Mountain Region. Formed in 2016, the company was created by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) after it bought Encana’s Colorado assets and established a private corporation. The CPPIB retained 96% ownership of the corporation.
In 2018, Crestone Peak Resources donated:
- $300,000 to the Senate Majority Fund;
- $200,000 to Better Colorado Now; and
- $100,000 to Protect Colorado.
The CPPIB is a Crown Corporation created by the Canadian government under the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act.[2] Crestone Peak Resources is a subsidiary company of the CPPIB. The government of Canada maintains control of the CPPIB through the appointment of board members.[3] It’s investment capital is collected from employers and working Canadians in the form of payroll tax collected by the federal government of Canada.[4]
Furthermore, Regulation 1-45-103.7 5 (b) states that “No limited liability company shall make any contribution to a political committee if one or more of the individual members of the limited liability company is:
- An entity formed under and subject to the laws of a foreign country;
- A natural person who is not a citizen of the United States; or
- A foreign government.[5]”
Not only is Crestone Peak Resources a subsidiary company of a Canadian Crown corporation but, at the time of the donations, Mr. Avik Dey, a Canadian and Managing Director, Head of Energy and Resources of the CPPIB, was Chair of the Crestone Peak Resources Board of Directors.[6] Also on the Crestone Board in 2018[7] were David Chambers, Senior Principal with CPPIB in the Energy and Resources Group and Benita Warmbold who was the Senior Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of CPPIB.
Staff and Board Members of the CPPIB appear regularly before the Canadian governments’ Standing Committee on Finance providing financial and operational reports to Members of Parliament.[8]
We hope the Office of the Attorney General can investigate the questionable financial donations made by Crestone Peak Resources and take actions to prevent further illegal donations.
Sincerely,
John Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor
Friends of the Earth Canada
johnbennett<at>foecanada.org
613 291 6888
Hallie Templeton, Deputy Legal Director
Friends of the Earth US
htempleton<at>foe.org
434 326 4647
[1] Election Campaign Regulations, Article 45, Colorado Revised Statutes 2020, online: <www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/info_center/laws/Title1/Title1.pdf>.
[2] Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act, S.C. 1997, c. 40, online: <laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-8.3/l>.
[3] “Minister of Finance Announces Appointment to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board – Canada.ca” (21 July 2020), online: Government of Canada <www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/07/minister-of-finance-announces-appointment-to-canada-pension-plan-investment-board.html>.
[4] “Canada Pension Plan (CPP)” (last updated 21 November 2018), online: Canada Revenue Agency <www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/canada-pension-plan-cpp.html>.
[5] Election Campaign Regulations, Article 45, Colorado Revised Statutes 2020, online: <www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/info_center/laws/Title1/Title1.pdf>.
[6] “Leadership Team” (last updated 2021), online: CPP Investments <www.cppinvestments.com/about-us/our-leadership/leadership-team>.
[7] “Leadership – Executive Team” (last updated 2017), online: Crestone Peak Resources <www.crestonepeakresources.com/leadership/>.
[8] “Finance Committee on May 30th, 2019” (last updated 30 May 2019), online: <openparliament.ca/committees/finance/42-1/217/>.