set, viewed as preferred participants in the think-
ing process required to produce our Sustainable
Development Plan. Our very first step was to con-
fer with them and poll their opinions. Their im-
pressions and expectations incited us to modify
several aspects of the path we were following,
thus demonstrating the relevance of our ap-
proach. One prominent example was the gaps in
our sustainable development reports: we were
admonished for outlining only our successes and
for not including any consistent indicators or
specific objectives.
the production-related weaknesses that were
brought to our attention, although only to a lim-
ited degree. Our Sustainable Development Plan,
which is very close to completion, will provide evi-
dence of the thorough re-assessment we have
carried out on our practices.
of alarm, is the very basis of the principle of con-
tinuous improvement which, we believe, enables
Cascades to exemplify just how accountable it is
as a company.
structive feedback you will provide us, and I in-
vite you to join us on our course to an ever-in-
creasing accountability.
of our stakeholders to follow this path.
while carrying out this enormous undertaking.
One thing we have discovered is that entrenching
our usual practices into a system entails a re-
view of what has defined us since the Company's
inception and gives rise to certain questions
about our day-to-day actions. Do any other
the most stringent SD standards? Do our em-
ployees feel as appreciated as we believe them
to be? Are the communities in which Cascades
has set up operations satisfied with our contribu-
tion? These were some of the questions we
needed to answer... and the responses had to be
checked and validated by third parties.
emaire