One of Canada's most accomplished business leaders reflects on his influential role in the industry that built British Columbia.

From a privileged early childhood in Vienna to an overnight escape from Hitler's grasp, to the seven decades spent building Canadian Forest Products with his father and uncle, Peter Bentley's life story is one of great challenges and unequivocal successes. An unflinching leader and a respected philanthropist, Bentley describes a colourful business career and shares his unique perspective on the rise and fall -- and the subsequent reinvention -- of Western Canada's forest industry in all its complexity.

Bentley does not avoid controversy in his accounting of political shenanigans in BC and across the nation. Nor does he shy away from the challenge of staring down the deep well of environmental issues. His views are those of a passionate citizen who, like his father before him, has given much of his life to the improvement of business and culture in British Columbia and Canada. Bentley's thoughts and reflections are his legacy to those who follow.

Peter J. G. Bentley is chairman emeritus of Canfor Corporation and a director of its principal subsidiary, Canadian Forest Products Ltd. He is a director of Canfor Pulp Products Inc. and chair of Sierra Mountain Minerals Inc. From 2004 to 2007, he was chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia, and he has received honorary degrees from UNBC and UBC. He currently serves on the boards of the Vancouver Police Foundation, the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, among others. In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Peter Bentley's profile page

Robin Fowler is a writer who guides individuals, families and corporations through the process of documenting their life stories through her company, Speak Memories Publishing. She is a member of the Association of Personal Historians and the Editors’ Association of Canada.

Robin Fowler's profile page