Charlie Angus, the natural resource critic for the NDP, is calling for parliamentary committee hearings to investigate Paper Excellence, Canada’s largest wood pulp producer.
Angus will propose that the House of Commons committee on natural resources summon the company’s CEO, along with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and others, to testify on the matter.
This comes after a CBC News investigation, in conjunction with other media outlets, which was part of a wider look at the global forestry industry under the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The investigation found that the people behind or associated with Paper Excellence appear to have a pattern of using corporations, including in tax havens, to shield transactions and assets from public and government scrutiny.
The company won’t disclose information about its past financing, some of which was facilitated by a $1.25 billion US demand debenture with the China Development Bank.
CBC’s investigation also found leaked records and insider accounts that show Paper Excellence appears to have been closely coordinating business and strategy decisions with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the world’s biggest pulp-and-paper players, which environmental groups have complained has a track record of environmental destruction.
Angus says Canada’s forests are fragile and a public trust of the Canadian people. He said it shouldn’t take investigative journalism for Canadians to know how Paper Excellence operates.
Mario Simard, the Bloc Québécois critic for natural resources, also has concerns about Paper Excellence; he worked unsuccessfully to convince the federal government to block its acquisition of Resolute, a Quebec-based forest products company.
Green Party Co-Leader Elizabeth May said she has long had concerns about Paper Excellence as she watched it grow in Canada over the years.
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