Complicit Investments
OTPP’s Complicit Investments According to the November 2025 SEC filing:
Honeywell International Inc.
GE Aerospace
Blackrock Inc. (the second largest institutional investor in Palantir, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Alphabet and IBM and the third largest in Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar)
Microsoft
AirBnB
Booking.com
“These entities enable the denial of self-determination and other structural violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including occupation, annexation and crimes of apartheid and genocide, as well as a long list of ancillary crimes and human rights violations, from discrimination, wanton destruction, forced displacement and pillage to extrajudicial killing and starvation.” (Albanese, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide)
GE Aerospace:
Blackrock Inc.
The second largest institutional investor in Palantir , Microsoft, Amazon.com, Alphabet and IBM and the third largest in Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar. (From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide)
Honeywell International Inc.:
Among the rubble of a United Nations-run al-Sardi school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp were the remnants of the Honeywell weapons parts that killed Palestinians. The Israeli attack… gave the displaced people sheltering in the school no prior warning. Fourteen children were killed, as well as nine women and at least 74 other people were wounded. An inertial measurement unit from the missile, used to aid with precision targeting, was manufactured by Honeywell. (Honeywell parts linked to attack on school / US weapons parts used in Israeli attack on Gaza school / Honeywell parts CBC article)
“Honeywell Aerospace has provided jet engines as well as components in many of the guided bombs, missiles, and drones used by the Israeli military, including to trainee fighter jet planes. Honeywell’s Mississauga plant51 produces the controllers for the Power and Thermal Management System for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet, a system installed on all F-35 variants.” (Exposing Canadian Exports to Israel, Arms Embargo Now Report, July 2025)
“One of Honeywell’s products, a family of sensors called Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), are an integral component in many guided bombs, missiles, and drones. For instance, the company’s HG1700 IMU is part of Boeing’s JDAM kits, which turn unguided bombs into precise munitions and have been one of the main weapons systems used by Israel in Gaza. Similarly, Honeywell’s HG1930 IMU is part56 of Boeing’s GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs, which have become Israel’s “weapon of choice” in Gaza.” (Exposing Canadian Exports to Israel, Arms Embargo Now Report, July 2025)
Booking Holdings Inc., Airbnb
Airbnb enables illegal settler promotion whitewashing settler violence against neighbouring Palestinian villages. Booking Holdings (flagship brand of Bookings Holdings Inc.)and Airbnb have been in the OHCHR database since 2020. Booking.com may label properties as “Palestinian territory, Israeli settlement” but it continues to profit from illegal settlements and faces criminal complaints in the Kingdom of the Netherlands for laundering proceeds” (From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide)
Microsoft
The Israeli military publicly admitted to using Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service, to enhance its capabilities during its war on Gaza, along with Amazon and Google cloud services. The military’s use of Azure spiked dramatically during the war, increasing by more than 155% between June 2023 and April 2024. Between October 2023 and June 2024, Microsoft agreed to provide the Israeli military with 19,000 hours of engineering support and consultancy services.
AI tools that the Israeli military receives through Microsoft Azure include the GPT-4 generative language model, automated translation, and automated document analysis
By March 2024, the military’s consumption of Microsoft Azure AI services was 64 times higher than it was before the genocide.
Microsoft fired two employees after they organized a vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza.
OTPP’s Duty to Divest
Our duty to “respect human rights” requires us to listen to the International Court of Justice, and the hundreds of international human rights law and genocide scholars who have said Israel is very likely using these weapons to commit genocide.
These investments are a direct violation of the express policy of multiple plan affiliates.
OSSTF policy explicitly states that:
“Pension plans to which OSSTF/FEESO members contribute should not invest in companies that contribute to killing, torture, deprivation of freedom, or other violations of human rights.”
OECTA policy says:
“Wherever possible and reasonable the plan [should] not invest in corporations or their subsidiaries, domestic or foreign, that produce munitions, armaments, or technologies of war, and [should] divest itself of any current holdings in said corporations.”
While the weapons and components these companies make and sell to Israel don’t fall within those already excluded by the OTPP and its “responsible investment” policies, OTPP has committed to “an ongoing process to identify and assess companies associated with severe controversies.”
Is there any controversy more severe than Genocide?
We are well aware of the Plan’s claim that it is more effective in addressing human rights issues through “engagement”. We are also well aware of the plan and plan custodian’s “fiduciary duty” to beneficiaries.
However, the plan itself admits that some investments create “irreconcilable risks”. Indeed, it’s for this reason the plan has excluded Tobacco companies. More recently in 2019, OTPP divested from a private prison company Geo Group Corp because of its reputation for human rights abuses. Judging the moral and reputational risks outweighed the financial benefits, OTPP divested completely from Geo Group Corp. As OTPP spokesperson Lisa Papas shared with CBC, “Our members care deeply about human rights, and we are committed to investing responsibly.”
The murder of children and the crime of genocide are irreconcilable to the long term best interests of Ontario teachers.
It is time for the OTPP to fulfill its moral and regulatory duties and divest from Israeli apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation immediately.