When one gets caught up in the euphoria of the stock market where green is money, it’s easy to overlook the ethics of the companies in which one is investing.

If you haven’t been investing with a conscience, The 50 Best Ethical Stocks For Canadians should bring you back to earth — as in green earth.

Authors Deb Abbey and Michael Jantzi have compiled an impressive lineup of 50 companies for social investors, who are defined as those who make investment decisions that integrate personal values and concerns for society with financial needs.

The book does an in-depth job of evaluating companies which combine strong financial prospects with corporate responsibility.

A year ago, Michael Jantzi Research Associates Inc. launched the Jantzi Social Index, a market-capitalization weighted, common-stock index of 60 companies that pass a broadly based social and environmental screening.

Before launching the index, the company back-tested the index for the period from 1994 to 1999 and found that it outperformed both the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 and 100 benchmarks. The back-tested social index showed annual returns of 18.93 per cent compared to 18.11 for the TSE 100 and 17.35 for the TSE 300.

The 50 featured companies are rated on a five-star system for: community involvement; diversity in the workplace; employee relations; environmental policies; international operations pertaining to human rights; and social responsibility in terms of products and business practices.

The list includes companies on major North American exchanges as well as one on the Copenhagen and London exchanges.

Three companies with head offices in Calgary cracked the social honour roll — Canadian Hydro Developers (KHD-TSE), Suncor Energy (SU-TSE)and TransAlta (TA-TSE).

The list also includes Telus (T-TSE) and Nortel Networks (NT-TSE), which have major operations in Calgary.

Canadian Hydro Developers is focused on low-impact power generation through wind, hydro and natural gas-fired facilities, including the wind farm on Cowley Ridge near Pincher Creek.

The company received four-star (strong) ratings for diversity in the workplace (ie. minority hiring), employee relations and environment, while receiving three-star (neutral) ratings in other categories.

“Canadian Hydro takes a hands-on approach during the construction of a plant and commitment to the community is always at the top of the agenda,” the authors state. “It ensures that local communities are aware of potential projects early in the planning process.”

Company profiles also include five-year stock charts to Aug. 31, 2000. Canadian Hydro, which recently traded at $2.90, has gained about 70 per cent from its price at that time.

The book gives Suncor a five-star rating for diversity in the workplace and three stars in all other categories.

Suncor, the lone oil-and-gas company on the list, is lauded for recovering “35 tonnes of hydrofluoric acid per year for reuse rather than treating and discharging it into the St. Clair River” at its Sarnia, Ont., refinery.

Suncor is also commended for its relationship with aboriginal peoples.

Suncor’s stock is in a similar trading range to where it was when profiled, but it has more than tripled in the past five years.

TransAlta, a utilities company that operates generating plants, hydroelectric plants and distribution and transmission lines, gets four-star ratings for community and environment and three stars in other categories.

The authors hit the mark in stating that TransAlta’s shares are “underpriced” as the stock has gained 18 per cent in the past five months.

TransAlta is recognized for its work with aboriginal peoples as well as its “significant actions to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs), fly ash and other harmful emissions.”

Telus scores four stars for employee relations. Nortel, Canada’s largest public company, scores five stars for environment for its actions in eliminating or reducing dangerous substances in manufacturing, and four stars for employee relations.

Nortel is one of several technology companies in the book whose stock has plunged in recent months.

Among other notable companies on the list are Ballard Power Systems, Canadian Tire, CanWest Global Communications, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, JDS Uniphase Canada, Nokia, Polaroid and Xerox.

The best performing major public company in North America did not make the cut. That was Philip Morris, the largest cigarette maker in North America, whose stock doubled last year.

This book butts out tobacco companies, noting that “most social investors view tobacco companies as the antithesis of social responsibility.”

The 50 Best Ethical Stocks For Canadians (2001 Edition); by Deb Abbey and Michael Jantzi; MacMillan Canada ($22.99).