Members of the B.C. NDP riding association in Kamloops-North Thompson are asking the provincial government to investigate Paper Excellence, a pulp and paper operator that has grown to become the largest forestry products company in North America.
Their motion calls on the Forests Ministry to conduct a “thorough investigation” of Paper Excellence that includes interrogating owner Jackson Wijaya and the company’s links to Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and the Sinar Mas Group.
Paper Excellence’s holdings include the Catalyst Crofton Mill north of Duncan and the Catalyst Port Alberni Mill on the Island.
“We need a good investigation to determine the links between the foreign domination and corporate control of the industry,” said Garry Worth, a retired mill worker, former union leader and member of the B.C. NDP.
Rick Turner, president of the Kamloops-North Thompson B.C. NDP Electoral District Association, said he’s already received informal support from a number of other B.C. NDP riding associations.
“This is a big concern and they should get involved,” said Turner. “I think we’ll get a lot of support for it.”
The Kamloops motion was passed only days after the federal Standing Committee on Natural Resources voted to investigate the ownership structure and business relations of Paper Excellence.
“These are reasonable things to ask,” said NDP natural resource critic Charlie Angus, who submitted the motion to investigate Paper Excellence. “It’s not like you’re assuming somebody’s guilty. These are public lands or public resources. Let’s get answers.”
That motion, which passed in Ottawa on March 31, calls on Wijaya and Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to testify before the committee.
Angus said he expects the parliamentary investigation to begin in early May. In the meantime, the MP for Timmins-James Bay said the B.C. riding’s call for a provincial investigation is a sign people are taking corporate concentration in forestry seriously.
“There’s a questioning period right now,” said Angus. “This is a very big company that people know very little about.
“Anything that’s done at the provincial level would be very helpful.”
In a statement to Glacier Media following the approval of committee investigations, Paper Excellence said it welcomes the opportunity to answer questions from the committee.
The company said it is committed to creating jobs and “maintaining a positive working relationship” with governments across Canada while respecting environmental regulations.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Forests Ministry said it was monitoring the proceedings in Ottawa and the results of the federal review.
The probe follows a months-long journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists — including media partners Glacier Media, the CBC, the Halifax Examiner, Le Monde and Radio France — into Paper Excellence’s overseas ties.
That investigation revealed a nexus of links between Paper Excellence and Asia Pulp and Paper, a forestry and paper conglomerate that environmental groups allege has been responsible for widespread deforestation, human rights abuses and conflicts with Indigenous communities. Both companies say they are independent of one another.
With a headquarters in Richmond, Paper Excellence holds dozens of pulp and paper mills across Canada, the U.S., Brazil and France. In March, it closed its latest multibillion-dollar acquisition of Resolute Forest Products, a deal that gives the company control of over 20 million hectares of Canadian forests and makes Paper Excellence the largest forestry products company in North America.
As part of their investigation, Glacier Media and its ICIJ partners interviewed former employees and reviewed leaked emails that showed staff worked freely between Paper Excellence and APP.
The consortium of media outlets used shipping records and satellite tracking technology to trace one of Paper Excellence’s pulp shipments from B.C. to Shanghai through an APP-linked logistics company. The Asian conglomerate denied buying pulp “directly” from Paper Excellence.
The Halifax Examiner’s reporting led to insider allegations from a whistleblower who worked inside APP’s operations in Shanghai, and traced the legacy of Paper Excellence’s footprint at its Nova Scotia mill.
CBC reporters, meanwhile, looked into $1.25 billion in credit Paper Excellence obtained from the China Development Bank. The company did not answer several questions about the financial relationship, only stating it no longer held any debt with the Chinese state-owned bank.
And in Europe, reporters at Le Monde investigated how Paper Excellence’s French operations were linked to Asia Pulp and Paper’s operations in China and Indonesia. Reporters at Radio France revealed a convicted wood thief acted as a supplier for Paper Excellence at the time the company cut down hundreds of ancient trees. A Paper Excellence spokesperson said it cut links with the firm once it learned of the accusations.
Turner said he is planning to bring forward the motion calling for a Forests Ministry investigation at the NDP’s provincial council meeting in May.
