Ottawa – Forest Products Association of Canada president and CEO Derek Nighbor issued the following statement today in tribute to Sylvain Lhôte, director general of FPAC’s European counterpart, the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI). Lhôte passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last week. His celebration of life will be held in Brussels tomorrow.

“Our global forest products community is a closely-knit one and we are in absolute shock at the loss of Sylvain. He was a gentleman in the prime of his career, a joy to work with, so proud of his family, and was a strong voice for Europe’s forest products industry. Sylvain was a leader among our global group of national forest products association executives. At international meetings hosted by FPAC in Vancouver just five weeks ago, Sylvain was selected by his peers from around the world to Chair the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA). It was a role that he was proud of and was looking forward to fulfilling so he could help advance innovation and opportunities for forest sector companies and workers around the globe. Our team at FPAC is saddened by this loss and we extend our love and deepest condolences to Sylvain’s wife Florence, his children Romain and Julie, his extended family, and the entire CEPI team”. https://www.paperfirst.info/sylvain-lhote-cepi-general-manager-has-passed-away/