B.C.-based pulp and paper company may be secretly controlled by Indonesian giant, says report

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A Greenpeace investigation found a trail of evidence — from lobbying records to overlap of corporate management in shell companies — suggesting the Richmond-based Paper Excellence is likely controlled by an Indonesian multinational with a history of massive deforestation.

An investigation into the ownership of what could soon be Canada’s largest forestry company has found “substantial evidence” the Indonesian multinational Sinar Mas Group — known for widespread deforestation and displacing a number of iconic species — secretly controls the firm.

“The question that we're asking: is that the kind of behaviour that we're seeing going to be replicated right here in Canada?” APP operations have also led to a number of conflicts with nearby communities. A 2019 report found Indonesian pulpwood plantations were in conflict with over 100 communities — many of them Indigenous. APP said it would be more transparent, and in 2021, said more than half of the conflicts had been resolved.

And this summer, the company said it was purchasing Resolute Forest Products, which would give the company several more pulp, paper and lumber mills across the southeast U.S., Ontario, and Quebec. It would also take over the management of 20 million hectares of Canada’s boreal forest. As the company has expanded over the years, Greenpeace says there is a growing body of evidence the company isn’t as homegrown as its image would suggest.

“In 2010, when Meadow Lake’s letterhead switched from ‘A Division of Sinarmas Group” to ‘Paper Excellence,’ there is no filing in the corporate registry that indicates a change in corporate control or ownership,” states the Greenpeace report. Paper Excellence did not respond to Glacier Media's requests to explain its alleged family and corporate ties with the Sinar Mas Group.

In 2020, documents show Sihota registered with the B.C. government as a lobbyist for Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corporation. The letter, sent as a submission during the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review process, was made public as a filing with B.C.'s lobbyist registry.

 

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Its unreal how lax our land/business ownership rules are in Canada, they need to be tightened, we can't have China and Russia owning important industries in our country

Are they employing Canadian workers? fakenews

Greenpeace is a Dutch corporation. Make them pay for their advertising.

I wonder what a giant would want with it 🤔

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