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The purchases bring BCI’s total stake in Kinder Morgan to 1,122,716 shares, a position worth more than US$18 million at current prices. BCI’s total net assets under management as of Dec. 31 were $135.5 billion.

B.C. Premier John Horgan declined to comment on what effect his government’s opposition to the pipeline expansion might have on BCI pension investments, which also include major oilsands producers Suncor Energy Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc., both of which have signed up to ship oil through the expanded pipeline between Alberta and B.C.

B.C. organizations that support the pipeline described the government’s stance, given BCI’s investments in the sector, as “rank hypocrisy.”

“Even if you bike to work every day, your food and supplies are delivered to you via trucks using oil and gas and in many cases your retirement funds are directly tied to this vital industry,” Kris Sims, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said in an email. “The B.C. government needs to wake up to this reality and fast before they do further damage to Canadians.”

BCI manages the pensions for the province’s teachers, provincial government and municipal government employees and also manages assets for several B.C. government agencies and bodies. All told, BCI manages pension investments for 569,000 British Columbians as well as the insurance benefit funds for 2.3 million workers in the province through WorkSafe BC. Janice Toker, spokesperson for the Victoria-based Crown corporation, said in an email “we do not publicly discuss our investment strategy.”