Quebec Taxpayers Will Feel Caisse Losses

Logo of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Photograph by: Pierre Obendrauf, Gazette file photo

From The Montreal Gazette:

Government agencies lost billions.

QUEBEC - It seems destined to trickle down onto the taxpayers' shoulders one way or another and it won't be pretty.

A National Assembly committee looking into the massive losses at the province's pension manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, yesterday started hearing tales of woe from government agencies and small pension managers with funds entrusted to the Caisse to invest.

They had one thing in common: shock. They were not told by the Caisse it was rolling the dice with their money by buying the now toxic non-asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) that caused the Caisse so much trouble. Most heard through the media about the Caisse's $40-billion subsequent loss after the market collapsed in August 2007.

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