Remi G Lalonde
Resolute Forest Products has announced that after a 39-year distinguished career with Resolute, Yves Laflamme will be stepping down, and retiring, as of 1 March 2021. The board of directors has unanimously selected and appointed Remi G. Lalonde as the company’s next president and chief executive officer, effective on the same date. Source: Timberbiz
Mr Lalonde, 44, currently serves as senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Upon becoming president and CEO, Mr Lalonde will be appointed to Resolute’s board of directors.
“Remi has very good relationships with our stakeholders, sharp analytical skills, impressive credentials, and a strong business drive. We are confident he will guide the company through its ongoing strategic transformation, delivering improved shareholder value. Remi is the right person at the right time for Resolute,” Bradley Martin, chairman of the board of directors said.
As president and CEO, Yves Laflamme advanced Resolute’s strategic transformation, divesting non-core assets and using the proceeds for debt repayment, organic growth in the company’s pulp business, and acquisition of three sawmills in the southern United States. Recent results in Resolute’s tissue business reflect his commitment to continuous improvement. He has been a steadfast supporter in the development of internal talent, building a strong crop of future company leaders.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Laflamme has guided the company in exceedingly difficult times while generously supporting the communities in which employees work and live. Mr Laflamme invested in the development of sustainable biomaterials, highlighting the added value Resolute brings to fibre. He has also remained committed to expansion of the company’s state-of-the-art Toundra Greenhouse joint venture, doubling its future production capacity. Mr Laflamme is expected to continue to support the company and Mr Lalonde in an advisory capacity working on specific mandates.
Mr Lalonde has been with Resolute for 11 years, rising through a series of successive roles in corporate, manufacturing and senior leadership. He has been serving as the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer since November 2018, after serving briefly as vice president for strategy, M&A, business development and procurement. Before that he was general manager for two and a half years at Resolute’s Thunder Bay, Ontario, pulp, paper and power complex.
He initially joined the company as senior counsel, securities in 2009, and took on the additional role of vice president, investor relations in 2011. In 2014,
Mr Lalonde was appointed vice president and treasurer, before moving into operations in Thunder Bay in early 2016. He began his legal career at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City as an associate in the financial institutions and corporate & finance groups, where he worked for over six years.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa in 2003 and a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in civil engineering from the University of Ottawa in 1999.
