VICTORIA - Financial documents show the University of Victoria (UVic) has more than $4 million in pension funds invested in Enbridge Inc. and over $50 million invested in tar sands and other oil and gas producers and transporters.

Enbridge is the company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline – which if approved would ship over half a million barrels of diluted bitumen from Edmonton to Kitimat every day. The proposed pipeline and tanker route would cut through the heart of the last intact temperate rainforest on Earth, expose the entire BC coast to the risk of an oil tanker spill, and fuel the expansion of the Alberta tar sands – the dirtiest industrial project in the world. Public hearings on the highly contested and unpopular pipeline are occurring this week in Victoria and next week in Vancouver.

“If UVic is serious about being a sustainable and green university it will stop profiting from Enbridge and other tar sands corporations. We are calling on UVic and other Canadian universities to immediately divest from tar sands corporations,” said Gwen Barlee, UVic alumni and Policy Director for the Wilderness Committee.

“We need universities to step up and show environmental leadership, not continue supporting the problems students and faculty are working to solve,” Barlee continued.

UVic heavily promotes its environmental programs and initiatives, and works hard to maintain its “green” image. The university has high-profile climate and environmental scientists on faculty, and takes care to highlight its sustainable campus projects and environmental work.

However, the university invests pension funds in Enbridge and some of the tar sands’ biggest players, including Nexen Inc., Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., and Imperial Oil Ltd.

“The university does a good job fostering ecological literacy and encouraging ecological discourse,” says Torrance Coste, Vancouver Island Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee and UVic graduate. “The fact that they support and profit from the production and transport of tar sands bitumen leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Pressuring universities to divest from fossil fuel and other environmentally destructive industries is an important strategy in the fight against global climate change. Student-led initiatives have been launched across Canada to raise awareness about ethical and sustainable investment at post-secondary institutions – including a recent petition to add ethical investment to annual university rankings.

The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, opposed by the majority of British Columbians according to several major polls, is currently under review by a federal Joint Review Panel. The panel will submit their recommendation to the federal government by the end of the year.