Greenpeace calls for more transparency from Canada's largest pulp and paper company
CBC
Environmental group Greenpeace is calling for more transparency on the part of Canada's largest pulp and paper company, saying it has received millions of dollars in government funding without providing the public with details of how that money is being used or sharing its plans for the future of Canada's forests.
In a report made public Monday, entitled Paper Trail to Nowhere, Greenpeace says $200 million in government funding has been handed to Domtar, formerly known as Paper Excellence, by federal and provincial governments across Canada between 2020 and 2024.
It also calls into question the company's lobbying activities.
"This report demonstrates that Domtar has been receiving significant amounts of Canadian public funds while gaining corporate control over forests across the country without any clear public accountability," wrote the authors of the report.
"The lack of transparency and the confusion around Domtar's corporate structure remain severe issues in understanding its long-term intentions with Canadian forests and the implications for the forest industry."
Domtar spokesperson Seth Kursman says the company adheres to Canada's lobbying rules.
"We are compliant with lobby registries in all jurisdictions in which we operate," Kursman said in a statement. "We adhere to the system, intent, spirit and letter of the law."
Greenpeace is calling for any future government funding for the company to come with conditions — to uphold nature and diversity protection as well as Indigenous rights and reconciliation. The group says the conditions should include "funding objectives, specific performance indicators and public accountability mechanisms."
Greenpeace also wants company owner Jackson Wijaya to appear before the House of Commons committee on natural resources to answer questions about the company's ownership and its governance structure along with its long-term intentions and its potential impact on Canada's forests and the forest industry.
The committee has twice adopted motions for Wijaya, a member of one of the wealthiest families in Indonesia, to appear before it. In response to the first motion in 2023, Wijaya said he was too busy to appear and instead sent a group of company executives.
The second, adopted unanimously by the committee in December 2024, died after Parliament was prorogued in January and later dissolved in March.
Committee clerk Jean-Luc Plourde says the current natural resources committee has not resumed the previous study of Canada's pulp and paper industry, nor has it adopted a motion for Wijaya to appear before it.
The company says Wijaya is willing to testify before the committee.
Kursman said Domtar and Greenpeace resolved a long-standing litigation last year and "we look forward to working with a range of stakeholders towards the shared objective of sustainable forestry practices and healthy, well-managed forests."
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