What should York University do about investments that may involve Burma? On Wednesday, Feb. 27, the University Colloquium on the Global South will hold a symposium entitled "Funding the Generals? York Investments in Burma", from 2:30-4:30pm in York Lanes Room 305 on the Keele campus.
Activists argue that by investing in companies doing business in Burma, universities like York are complicit in maintaining the military regime there. Although the proportion involved is very small, York University may hold shares in some companies active in Burma through its pension fund and endowment funds.
With a campaign building on campus aimed at convincing York to divest from companies doing business in Burma, this panel aims to foster discussion about the impact of such investments, strategies for successful divestment, and the financial implications of pulling out of select stocks for ethical reasons. The panel will be chaired by Walter Whiteley, the York University Faculty Association’s nominee on the York Pension Fund board of trustees and a member of the York Coalition for Responsible Investment, and will include Tin Maung Htoo, national director of the Canadian Friends of Burma, and Nick Brown, a financial analyst with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.