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On the surface, this is about whether Endswell may have had conflicting or competing interests related to its investments in gas and oil companies some ten years ago. More broadly, the question is about the origins of the money that is being spent on environmental and perhaps on political campaigns, in the name of the Endswell Foundation and Tides Canada.
Since 1997, the Endswell Foundation has paid $12 million to Tides Canada, U.S. tax returns show. Since 2003, fully 99 percent of Endswell's grants have gone to Tides Canada.
U.S. tax returns for 1997, 1998, and 1999 (excerpts shown below) say that at the time, the Endswell Foundation had corporate bonds in about 20 companies. Of those, three companies were gas companies: Consumer Gas Ltd., B.C. Gas and Nova Gas Transmission which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. In addition, Endswell had investments in Trans Quebec Maritimes which may have been a subsidiary of Trans Canada Pipelines which owns the Keystone pipeline from Alberta to the USA. That pipeline started operations in June of 2010.
Environmental organizations oppose both the Enbridge and the Keystone pipeline. The campaign against the Enbridge pipeline seems to be more intense. U.S. foundations have made grants specifically for environmental groups to oppose the Enbridge pipeline.
In the U.S. tax returns from 2000 onwards, Endswell reports corporate stocks but corporate bonds are not reported. Since 2000, Endswell's corporate stocks have been with Genus and Real Assets which, if I'm not mistaken, is at VanCity.
The president of the Endswell Foundation has been asked (by e-mail and letter) whether Endswell continued to have investments in gas companies after 2000. So far, no response has been received.
For a larger version of the excerpts of U.S. tax returns below, please click on the image itself.
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