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Source: M-Foto, Shutterstock
Summary
- CPPIB chief Mark Machin resigns after controversy over foreign travel for CIOVID shots.
- The board’s global head of credit investments John Graham to replace him.
- The finance ministry says people expect CPPIB to always maintain high standard.
Mark Machin, the head of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), has resigned amid a raging controversy over his travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take COVID-19 shots after the government imposed foreign travel restrictions to curb the pandemic.
Mr. Machin’s action, seen as a defiance to the government’s efforts to curb the pandemic, has riled the nation. The board’s global head of credit investments John Graham will replace him.
The development comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that he had flown to the UAE on Thursday to get the shots. The Justin Trudeau government had advised citizens to refrain from traveling abroad, unless during an emergency, as cases of infections multiplied in mid-January.
The new rules also require people returning from abroad to undergo at least three days of quarantine at designated hotels set up near the airports for the purpose. Whether Mr. Machin had gone through that process was also not immediately clear.
Pic Credit: Pixabay.
Machin’s Trip Embarrasses Government
Political observers say that Mr. Machin’s foreign travel has embarrassed the government. Although the CPPIB is a non-governmental organization, it reports to a government-appointed committee.
The government has been under pressure from the opposition over the inadequate supplies of COVID-19 vaccines in some provinces.
It has approved three vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca so far. While the first two are being administered, the latter received the approval this week and will start supplies from April.
Reacting to Mr. Machin’s resignation, the finance ministry said that people lay their trust in CPPIB and they expect it to maintain a high standard.
A spokesperson of the ministry said that the government was unaware of his travel abroad.
Following the government directives, Canadian Airlines had canceled trips to holiday destinations.
