CPP serves a different and super narrow purpose. The idea is to maintain a very safe, stable portfolio that can reliably pay out pensions. We CANNOT make politically/ethically charged decisions here AT ALL.

From what I'm guessing, the SWF that's being proposed here is something of a middle ground. Independent, but with a "let's invest in Canada" approach. The idea doesn't seem to be just to maximise roi, but to rather do that along with "investing in Canada". Basically the government wanting to create/fund profit making, Canadian businesses that require large capital to get started (so mostly infrastructure projects).

Keeping it independent from parliament kinda insulates it from political nonsense. At the same time, cheaper debt for the Canadian economy as a whole.

I like it. However, I would like if the operations were cooperativezed. I'm afraid that future governments would raid the fund to promise temporary tax breaks or whatever. They can't do that with the CPP, as this would cause massive political backlash. I hope the public is well educated enough regarding this fund, where its protection is of paramount importance to them.