The New Brunswick government has rejected recommendations from the province’s ombud to disclose secret information from a provincially owned company about cancelling a contract to buy new airplanes. Steven Hansen, CEO of Forest Protection, wrote in January 2023 to an assistant deputy minister and to Jason Limongelli, a J.D. Irving VP, that he was “disappointed” by something he had learned that morning from the Department of Natural Resources and Energy. What exactly disappointed him was redacted from emails obtained by CBC News. …Forest Protection, which is co-owned by the province and several large forestry companies, was established in 1952 to spray the province’s forests to fight spruce budworm. …Pelletier’s investigation noted that Forest Protection has been “treated as though it were a Crown corporation by the province” for decades… but the company doesn’t meet the definition of a “public body” under provincial law.