Executive Team

Richard Garneau

President and Chief Executive Officer

Richard Garneau has a broad industry background in paper and forest products gained in a variety of challenging operational and finance roles. He was appointed Catalyst Paper’s president and chief executive officer on March 26, 2007 after holding senior executive positions with Domtar Inc., Norampac, St. Laurent Paperboard, Finlay Forest Products and Donohue Inc.

Mr. Garneau is a chartered accountant, and holds a bachelor of administration degree from Laval University.

Brian Baarda

Vice-President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer

Brian Baarda was appointed vice-president, finance and chief financial officer in November 2009. He brings 20 years of industry experience, most recently as vice-president, operations responsible for recycled paper production and facilities.

Prior to that he was vice-president of Powell River Division, and from 2003 to 2005 he held the role of vice-president, supply chain. He joined the company in 1989 and has worked in several locations and held a number of senior accounting and analysis positions until moving to the operations side of the business in 2001 as the pulp mill manager at Elk Falls Division, a role he held until 2003.

Steve Boniferro

Senior Vice-President, Human Resources

Steve joined Catalyst in January 2008, bringing more than 25 years of experience in senior human resource positions with both management and labour. Prior to his role at Catalyst, he was vice-president of Algoma Steel, where he led the human resource group since 1998.

He began his career in the mining industry and served as president of the Steelworkers Union local in Elliot Lake, Ontario in the late 1970s. He became a staff representative with the Steelworkers in 1987 and was promoted to area coordinator for Northwestern Ontario in 1990.

Steve is a graduate of the Queen’s School of Business, Human Resources Program and an alumnus of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. He served on numerous community boards and committees and has been a guest lecturer at Harvard and Oxford Universities.

Lyn Brown

Vice-President, Corporate Relations and Social Responsibility

Lyn is responsible for corporate issues management, government relations and the company’s broad social responsibility agenda.

Lyn joined the company in 2004, bringing a graduate degree in business and 20 years of broad experience in journalism, associations, crown corporations, electric utilities and telecommunications. She most recently held executive positions with Aquila Networks Canada (now Fortis) and senior policy and communications roles at Telus.

Lyn was appointed to her current position in July 2005.

Tom Crowley

Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing

Tom is responsible for sales and marketing of all paper and pulp products manufactured by Catalyst.

He joined the company in 2000, as vice-president and general manager, newsprint and was appointed vice-president and general manager for specialty papers in 2005 before assuming his current position in September 2007.

Tom has more than 20 years of industry experience, including as a pulp and paper mill manager. He has managed all aspects of customer relationships in regions as diverse as Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East and held prior career assignments in Guadalajara, Mexico and London, England.

He holds a master’s degree from American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) and bachelor degrees in Business and Arts (Latin American and Spanish Studies) from Southern Methodist University.

Brian Johnston

Vice-President, Operations

Brian Johnston is responsible for all manufacturing facilities.

Brian has more than 25 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry, having worked in mills from coast to coast. He joined Catalyst paper in 1994 at Crofton, holding various positions in paper mill operations.

In 2001 Brian transferred to Powell River Division as vice-president, operations, a position he held until 2005 when he assumed the corporate role of vice-president, technical services, to provide support to all mills’ operations. Prior to his current appointment, Brian held the position of vice-president, operations of Elk Falls Division.

Robert H. Lindstrom

Vice-President, Supply Chain and Information Technology

As vice-president, supply chain and information technology, Bob is responsible for a number of critical functions and services, including fibre supply, ONP procurement, order fulfillment, transportation, logistics management, supply management, energy strategy and management and information technology.

Before his appointment in August 2005, Bob served as vice-president, strategy and was instrumental in developing a long-term strategic direction for all of our operations. He also worked closely with our CEO to develop our acquisition strategy for growing the mechanical paper business.

Valerie Seager

Vice-President and General Counsel

As vice-president and general counsel, Valerie is responsible for all of the company’s legal affairs. She provides advice on a variety of legal issues and manages the company’s relationships with outside counsel. She oversees all regulatory and corporate compliance matters, and ensures that our governance practices meet the highest standards.

Valerie has a broad legal background, based on 12 years of private practice and several years of in-house corporate experience. She joined Catalyst in 2002 as legal counsel and corporate secretary. In that role, she directed a wide range of legal files, including litigation management, contracts, acquisitions and related strategic initiatives. She assumed her current position in August 2005.