Paper Trail to Nowhere: If a Tree falls in the Forest, who will Listen?

If you found out that at least $200 million of public funding went towards a single major corporation and its subsidiaries over the last few years, would you have questions about its operations? And if you found out they managed 22 million hectares of forest across Canada, would you be even more curious? Furthermore, what if they also had global ties to a corporation with a documented track record of environmental and human rights violations?

Our brand new reports—launched today—highlight the concerning lack of transparency and accountability surrounding the company that has been establishing itself as a logging giant across Canada for the last two decades: Domtar, formerly known as Paper Excellence and Resolute. Part 1 focuses on the federal level, while Part 2 focuses on the provincial level, and British Columbia specifically.

Paper Trail to Nowhere — Part 1:
Domtar’s Lobbying Strategies in Canada between 2020 and 2024

Paper Trail to Nowhere — Part 2:
Domtar’s Lobbying Strategies in British Columbia between 2020 and 2024

Forests are living, breathing systems that sustain life—not just resources to be commodified. And now, with the Carney government giving natural resource lobbyists so much access, pushing for transparency and accountability has never been more important.

The Context

These new reports trace Domtar’s extensive lobbying activity during a critical four-year period, when the company (operating under different names) was facing growing public scrutiny, being called out by multiple organizations, attempting to silence us through legal action, and approaching a federal investigation.

Despite clear rebranding and a carefully crafted “green” image, serious transparency gaps remain. Domtar’s sole owner, Jackson Wijaya, has still not appeared before the House of Commons Committee—despite being formally invited. Canadians are being left in the dark about who truly controls the largest forestry company in the country and what that means for the future of our forests and forest-dependent communities.

A maze of a structure:
Name changes and shady global ties

Domtar, previously Paper Excellence, and previously Resolute, has rebranded repeatedly based on its extensive acquisitions and strategic decisions. Below, you can see the acquisitions as outlined in our report.

Domtar’s owner, Jackson Wijaya, also controls Asia Pulp & Paper (APP)—a company repeatedly criticized for large-scale deforestation and conflicts with Indigenous and local communities in Southeast Asia. The switch to the Domtar name was part of a move to repair the company’s controversial reputation.

Domtar (formerly Paper Excellence) has long been criticized for its opaque corporate structure, largely because of ties to the controversial Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and the larger Sinar Mas Group (SMG).

In October 2022, Greenpeace Canada released a report exposing these connections, including family links, overlapping management, and lobbyist filings, which sparked broader global media coverage.

Safe to say that the company’s ties and its industry “takeover” across Canada raised flags for many. By 2023, concerns over the company’s intentions led to public hearings before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources. After years of denying ties to the Indonesia-based forest conglomerate, Jackson Wijaya took “sole control” of APP from his father, Teguh Ganda Wijaya, in November 2024. This move was questioned by some MPs.

Peek-a-Boo:
The CEO behind it all fails to appear for questioning

On numerous occasions, Jackson Wijaya has failed to appear before the House of Commons Committee to clarify his company’s structure under the pretext of “extensive global business commitments.” Most recently, following the news about him becoming the sole owner of APP, the Committee unanimously voted for Wijaya to testify, which was not implemented due to a parliamentary recess. Wijaya claimed that, “he’s not deliberately avoiding Canada” and “his team was making plans for him to appear before the committee before the election,” but offered little to no clarity on his ownership of APP in a May 2025 interview with The Globe and Mail.

An interesting contrast:
A green logo reveal versus environmental penalties

Domtar rolled out its glossy green rebrand, followed by sustainability targets and “environmental stewardship” goals. Meanwhile, its mills were being repeatedly fined for repeated pollution breaches—a juxtaposition that provides interesting context when diving into data about the logging giant’s lobbying activities during the same period.

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We reacted to recent penalties against Domtar, and the same sentiment rings true in light of our new reports: A corporation’s actions definitely speak louder than words.

The findings:

1. Domtar assembled a lobbying team immediately after Greenpeace Canada and others raised questions about its corporate structure and global ties, with a clear focus on the regions in which they have economic ties.

Founded in 2006, Paper Excellence operated for years without registering any federal lobbyists. That changed in 2022, when the company suddenly hired several high-profile consultant lobbyists, including Dentons Canada LLP—the world’s largest law firm—and PAA Advisory. This shift came after growing scrutiny of the company’s opaque ownership, including our own 2022 investigation and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. In April 2023, Paper Excellence went a step further, registering its first federal in-house lobbying team, led by former Chief Operating Officer Stewart Gibson.

2. Lobbying activity surged in the lead-up to House of Commons Committee hearings tied to a federal investigation.

When you look at the monthly communications in the chart below, Domtar and its subsidiaries’ lobbying of the federal government in 2023 peaks in May, with 16 contacts in a single month. This spike happened at the same time as the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources hearings on May XX and June XX, at which Greenpeace Canada and others presented key evidence linking the company formerly known as Paper Excellence to APP.

3. The primary targets of Domtar and its subsidiaries’ lobbying on the federal level are the Members of Parliament (MPs), and on the provincial level, there was a heavy focus on BC, where the company has significant economic ties.

Domtar’s lobbying is heavily targeted at elected officials in communities tied to the forestry sector, especially where the company has direct interests. It’s also worth noting that Canada’s lobbying rules don’t cover unpaid lobbying, informal chats, or written communications like emails and texts—meaning the full scope of influence is likely much larger than what’s on the record.

Of all government institutions, the top lobbied one was the House of Commons, as efforts were focused on lobbying the Members of Parliament (MPs).

The spike in lobbying happened at the same time as House of Commons hearings into Domtar’s secretive ownership structure (when the company was still known as Paper Excellence). CBC reported that once the hearings were announced, company officials began contacting MPs who sat on the committee. Former MP Charlie Angus, who was a committee member at the time, said the company reached out to him despite having no prior relationship—calling the move “highly unusual” and “inappropriate” given that the issue was about to be discussed publicly.

In 2024 (below), Domtar followed a similar pattern and continued to primarily lobby federal MPs representing ridings with pulp and paper infrastructure, particularly focused on those owned or recently acquired by the company or its subsidiaries. 

For information about the BC lobbying efforts, see the provincial-focused report.

4. Between 2020 and 2024, Domtar and its associated companies received at least $203–206 million in public funding.

A comprehensive research of Domtar-disclosed government funding amounts collected from lobbying registries revealed that, in total, all Domtar-associated companies (including subsidiaries since their official acquisition by the company formerly known as Paper Excellence) have received at least $203 million to 206 million in government funding between 2020 and 2024 (including the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy). The graph below outlines the government funding received by Domtar-associated companies (excluding Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy).

More specifically, out of $160 million in non-pandemic government funding, approximately $117 million was secured from provincial ministries or crown corporations under their control. It is essential to recognize that Domtar’s expansion of its lobbying activities and acquisitions of companies coincided with an increase in government funding received by the company.

Over the same period, the company faced repeated criticism and penalties for environmental violations. A growing number of mill closures raise doubts about whether this public investment is delivering real, lasting benefits for workers, communities, or taxpayers.

The Punchline: Paper Trail to Nowhere

Taken together, these findings reveal a stark imbalance: vast amounts of public money and political access flowing to one company, with too little transparency in return—at a moment when Canada’s forests are already under intense pressure from industrial logging, old growth logging, biodiversity loss, and a rapidly changing climate.

Greenpeace Canada is calling for:

• Jackson Wijaya to appear before the House of Commons Committee and fully cooperate.
• Clear transparency around Domtar’s ownership, governance, and long-term plans.
• Strict conditions on any future public funding, including measurable goals, oversight, and public accountability.
• Federal policies that protect biodiversity, respect Indigenous rights, and end subsidies that harm nature.

Canada’s forests are not abstract assets on a balance sheet. They are living ecosystems, sources of clean air and water, homes to wildlife, and places people rely on for their livelihoods and cultures. When billions in public money are tied to their destruction, people across Canada deserve answers.