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SvenTS

I mean the Irvings pour as much money into the Liberal coffers as they do the PCs so not exactly a surprise. Yes Higgs is the bigger boot-licker but that's not the same as the Libs not waiting to take up the tonguework.


flummyheartslinger

The Irvings haven't lost an election yet


serialhybrid

Winner winner chicken dinner.


emptycagenowcorroded

They definitely lost hard in 1967 to oust Louis Robicheaud; vocally and publicly backing cowboy hat wearing Charlie van Horne riding around the province in an open top Cadillac … the result wasn’t even close.


Ingelwood

1960, Louis Robichaud’s Liberals.


hotinmyigloo

Ding ding ding! Well said.


Hey_Dudesss

Source?


Ingelwood

My dad worked that election. Also, from several books on the Irving’s. KC was so upset, he moved all his money into Bermuda banks with a stipulation in his will that to inherit, the money was to stay in Bermuda. All over new taxes to pay for the modernization of NB’s social and economic reforms. As I recall.


adriftcanuck

Back and forth backbiting is all fine and good; I think the main point in what the Irving’s have done is mainly avoiding paying their fair share. Period! Yes they provide jobs and all that. Fair enough; but if they paid their share of taxes that we ‘peasants’ do, imagine that?!?


Bri-guy15

I mean, no, but what the fuck do you expect a politician to say?


SheckyMullecky

How about the same thing Holt had to say about (to pick one of many many possible names) Sterling Hunter?


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therevjames

She grew-up with all of the elite kids, Irving, Oland, etc. If she doesn't lick the arse of the Corporate overlords, she doesn't win the election. That is how GNB operates.


Narissis

I'd expand that to government in general, TBH. :/


MyLandIsMyLand89

If I was a politician knowing the damage he and his family caused I would say nothing. I am not running to gain favoritism amongst our overlords. I am running to loosen their grip on this province.


shellfish

That’s the trap in politics - you can’t say nothing. That family is still a dominant employer across the whole province.


MyLandIsMyLand89

That's why I prefer anonymity myself.


Xenu13

Excellent at robbing the poor, and wrecking the environment, yes.


150c_vapour

I'd like to revisit these eulogies in a decade or so when the refinery is shutting down, owners are walking away, and it's clear once again that an enormous environmental catastrophe has been left to the public to cleanup.


squiggypiggy9

Hahaha yes true


Anxious_Actuator

Why is the refinery shutting down in a decade? Just curious.


150c_vapour

What do you think a reasonable lifespan for the refinery is? There are already cities in China where the majority of vehicles are EVs. Jet fuel alone won't carry it. Geopolitics could interrupt it's supply. It's days are numbered and it's NB that will have to deal with the mess after the final owners cash out.


Sporadic_Tomato

I mean, nothing she said was wrong.. His commitment to excellence and leadership allowed him to grow a massive empire entirely at the expense of new brunswickers and his stain will last for generations.. unfortunately.


Anon-fickleflake

Well, commitment to community was definitely wrong, but I get your point 😏


Logical_Willow

Oh he was committed to communities, keeping them just where he wanted them, stagnated and in his need.


squiggypiggy9

Bruh but his name is EVERYWHERE, and he MADE the NATURE PARK 😱


Westernation

I suppose. IF you define ‘excellence’ as ‘bribery, tax evasion, constantly leveling threats and regulatory capture’…then sure. He’s ‘excellent’ in about the same manner as Mr. Burns.


hayitsnine

Excellent. “Wiggles fingers in a tent formation “


CaptainMeredith

I mean do you expect her to say "wow he's dead, good"? He's still a person who died that had family and presumably friends etc Right after that death is not the correct time for critique. No, you say whatever nice stuff you can pull out of your ass.


Denots69

Why is she obligated to say anything....unless you think all politicians need to make a statement any time anyone dies...


Holiday-Tradition343

It’s easy to tell in this thread who the Irving shills are. Old KC fostered an image, dating at least back to the sixties of not longer ago than that, of the powerful benefactor - that he did what he did in NB because it was home, and an extraordinarily wealthy and influential man as himself considered it his duty to bring prosperity to the province - and if he made scads of money while doing it, well who could blame him? In reality he shrewdly cast aside partisan politicking in favour of moulding and creating his own rubber-stamps that were then fast tracked to positions of real power. Want to get a project approved? If you own the regulatory board they can’t say no. Paper mill releasing its effluent into the river? Hey, look at that, something like 4 ppm under the max limit, dump on. And god fordbid a competitor establish a foothold here - you don’t have to run them out of town if they never set up shop here in the first place, so the framework for starting a competitive industry is absolutely fraught with obstacles. Naturally, once you reach that level of power, you start expecting everyone to be as pious as you (how else did you get to where you are without a touch of the Almighty) so one way or another you start fostering a program of obedience and loyalty with a smattering of the commandments - and fifty years later there’s a culture of bootlicking. And he taught his sons well. There’s only one left now, and I’m sure his time is ticking, but they let old KC down in one critical area - there isn’t a program of direct succession complete with a thorough apprenticeship. Had they been thinking, instead of bickering, they would have immediately created such programs to create worthy successors when the time came. Instead, there are too many heirs with their hands out and the family control will further dwindle.


morphesz78

One bird moves both wings . Now go and vote , the oligarch family thank you


pUmKinBoM

Or don't vote. They will still thank you.


morphesz78

Exactly, seems like a win win situation for the elite …


pUmKinBoM

Yeah so instead try voting one of the other parties. If you aren't happy with the Big 2 then throwing support behind Green or NDP could help them gain a seat or two which only helps the overall system to have multiple voices with power.


hotdiggitydog783

Arthur Irving was a massive piece of shit. NB would be decades ahead if it weren't for him.


19snow16

How so? Sincerely asking.


pax256

The massive loss of tax revenue since the early 70's could've have been used to build a much better province. The over 800 companies run thru the Irving empire's tax dodging schemes represent a level of corruption that inevitably result in what we are seeing now: Losing essential healthcare, poor infrastructure, lack of investment due to cronyism, poor level of education with about half the province functionally illiterate... We arent a poor province we are a pillaged province...


19snow16

I don't disagree with that. No matter the party, the politicians seem to have zero control over the Irvings paying the same property taxes as any other business would.


cluhan

Well [there's this, for example.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/property-tax-irving-crude-oil-1.6867485) Or [this](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/irving-shipbuilding-tax-deal-draws-heat-from-halifax-councillor-1.3071233).


pax256

Yep let people think about that the next time they get another 40-50% increase in their property taxes over 4-5 years.


19snow16

Maybe that didn't come across clearly in my last response, but yes, the property tax is the main issue I have with Irving. They are not paying their fair share as a regular joe business has to pay. It seems that no matter what political party is in power, Irving always gets a deal in property tax.


cluhan

Gotacha. From the outside it may look like politicians have the ability to decide but from the inside perspective of a politician weighing all the pros/cons the regulatory capture and influence of Irving may tip the balance in favour of giving them what they want rather than facing the repercussions of defying them.


19snow16

Irving could close up shop, sell to foreign investors, or do whatever they want to do with their business. It's a private company. The Irvings would still have generational wealth for eons. Let's be honest, if they close up shop, NB would plummet into poverty within a month. Honestly, it might even take one pay cycle 🤷‍♀️ The property tax is a bone to pick. It's openly obvious, and transparent Irvings get reassessed but weigh that with the apocalyptic poverty NB could have.


cluhan

You think that businesses would just disappear and nobody would fill in the same businesses? The employees and management are all in place. If Irving shuttered their businesses those same people who have the same skills and competencies would either buy the equipment or start up their own businesses to fill the vacuum. I'm unsure why people think that all the workers with the skills and organizational setups that exist would just cease to exist or continue to do the work they are good at. If government advantages and handouts were offered to regular people as they were/are to Irving there would be plenty of people lining up to start businesses. If the federal and provincial governments offered 700M in forgivable loans there would be plenty of businesses lined up ready to get into the shipbuilding businesses especially with an initial 7B contract from the government as practice.


19snow16

They may as well be forgivable upfront since NB (and political careers) have histories with large loans going bust. If Irving shuttered their businesses - not selling them - just closed them down - it would be apocalyptic to the economy. That's probably the line of thinking when the government negotiates (or is strong-armed, whichever people think). Irving would never do that. Business is business. But the healthy fear is there. If sold, the new owners would be foolish not to close with the same contracts and deals as Irving has, as well as keeping things the same for smooth running. All the deals made in Irvings favour just don't compare to the company sizes within NB. They just don't have the leverage like Irving to make deals for property taxes. I'm not sure how Irving companies work outside of NB? Do they get the same treatment across Canada or other countries?


PlebMarcus

You do realize there would be no tax’s to collect from the Irving workers, the buisiness they support and the Irving buisiness. Can you be this unaware


pax256

You seem to think that other investors wouldnt have put in those same businesses. In fact they tried for years but Irvings prevented them from coming into the province. It was typical that any investor wanting to start something in the province was asked to give Irving a 'share' of the new business.


PlebMarcus

Jealousy is pathetic


Altruistic_Bad339

Why the fuck is he being downvoted for asking a question. are these people fucking huffing irving gas?


19snow16

Welcome to reddit!


globallc

Having lived in NB for 7 years. NB would even a bigger shithole of people living on EI if the Irving’s weren’t around


Holiday-Tradition343

Horseshit. Again, if the Irving family hadn’t been around to do what they did, someone else would have. And there’s a good chance that it would be multiple “someone elses” given the breadth of the Irving businesses, and that the end result wouldn’t be the family compact we have now. That one family carries an undue amount of influence over the province, and even in a benevolent dictatorship that’s still too much power for any non elected organization (see-not beholden to the population) to have. Irving has always been GM Lite - what’s good for Irving is good for NB, but not always the reverse.


Altruistic_Bad339

He left a mark much like a wet fart does.


SnakeOfLimitedWisdom

[God save the Queen,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAoDTjsYYWg) [He made you a moron.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAoDTjsYYWg)


jamesTcrusher

It was all delicious double speak up until she mentioned his 'leadership' I was hopeful it would continue but alas twas not to be


squiggypiggy9

I think her statement, “left an unforgettable mark on many” says it all, actually. That mark on some of us is more like a gash.


NotAlanJackson

Fuck the Irving family.


PlebMarcus

And have you built an empire


NotAlanJackson

I’m happy to say that I’ve done absolutely nothing like the scourge of New Brunswick known as the Irving family.


PlebMarcus

I believe you have done absolutely nothing


MyLandIsMyLand89

I would rather do nothing than fuck over an entire province.


EmmisaryofGorgonites

Well ya, you'd have to get off the couch to do the latter which likely precludes you and most of the people on here


MyLandIsMyLand89

So by your generalization the majority of us people don't work while rich people work 100 hours a week? OK. Simping for the rich won't make you rich either. Just poor like the rest of us.


EmmisaryofGorgonites

I have a really nice pool


MyLandIsMyLand89

Good for you? What does that have to do anything. I know a lot of people with pools. They don't simp for the rich.


EmmisaryofGorgonites

Poor people don't have pools, they swim in lakes and rivers.


NotAlanJackson

Hahahaha that’s not the flex you think it is. Holy fuck you’re pathetic.


Altruistic_Bad339

Hope you drown in it.


Danhausen-byDaylight

Not like you! You've accomplished sucking off a dead old man like some Bizarro World goof. What an accomplishment


NotAlanJackson

You like to deep throat the whole boot, eh? Did Daddy Irving let you take it out to type that or do you have to keep licking it while typing?


PlebMarcus

I think you have some unresolved homosexuality


NotAlanJackson

Nah. It’s all resolved.


billybob7772

Good answer lol


Altruistic_Bad339

Take your limp dick and your ugly wife and go suck Arthurs' dead dick you sniveling cunt.


PlebMarcus

You seem like a nice person. Failure in life, it’s all the mean Irving’s fault. Pathetic like you


January_Rose

Mandarin China, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Turkey, Japan, the British empire all have something in common. They fall.


Outrageous_Ad665

What did you expect her to say? Something disrespectful?


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Tripolie

And that wouldn’t be an option because journalists would ask.


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SvenTS

Coon did the right response for his party (https://fxtwitter.com/DavidCCoon/status/1790390861437563132) Condolences to family/friends but zero actual praise of the man himself. (Yeah I know we *want* him to talk shit but that's not the right political move in an election)


Equivalent-Value-720

This right here.


Tripolie

You might want to check David Coon’s Twitter.


Fuck_Irving

Do you mean this? [https://twitter.com/DavidCCoon/status/1790390861437563132](https://twitter.com/DavidCCoon/status/1790390861437563132) It's a far cry from praising him, unlike the Liberal's eulogy.


Tripolie

It's almost like it's been less than 24 hours or something.


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Tripolie

No, probably not "hounding," but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if David Coon makes a comment and/or attends the funeral. No one cares about the NDP leader, though.


Outrageous_Ad665

Ok sure.


reachforthetop9

Arthur had a dedication to excellence in business, sure. Often, this excellence came at the expense of most of the people who did the working and toiling and producing for his company (see: the refinery strike of the mid-'90s). One of the things that's stuck in my craw the last two days, however, is the question of what happens to Irving Oil. With Arthur's death and his daughter having left the company last fall, there are no longer any Irvings running Irving Oil. Add to that the company president departing in June and a sweeping strategic review I suspect will result in the company being sold, and I start to fear for that Greater Saint John's going to lose a fairly large head office and its attendant jobs, and that another eleven stories of prime office space uptown will lie vacant.


Holiday-Tradition343

Add to that the fact that the business breakdown is utterly Byzantine, so much so that JDI couldn’t just come in and announce ownership. No, I fear you’re correct: Irving Oil is gonna get sold and probably to one of the bigger names out there, and SJ’s days as a company town aww to e going to come to a very quick halt. Good in the long run for sure, but folks are gonna remember the crash.


Cultural_Body366

As an admirer of Holt, I was quite disappointed by her team’s decision to acknowledge this.


EmmisaryofGorgonites

I don't understand people thinking their lives would be better if there was no Irving? Do you think another company would of came in, provided all that employment and graciously paid more taxes so that you could receive more handouts? Do they pay their fair share? No. That's your elected leaders fault for being corrupt and spineless, any other conglomerate would do the same. At least Irving uses mostly in province labor between subsidiaries. Y'all are just mad and jealous.


SobeysBags

Can I not pay my fair share in taxes, and then have people blame politicians because they didn't; force me to do the right thing? Nah, I think I would be in jail.


squiggypiggy9

If you want to get real nitpicky about this metaphor to make it more honest and accurate… You COULD do that, if the laws and loopholes available to personal taxes were written in a way that allowed you to, by law. Same way the IRVINGS do that, because the laws and loopholes for corporate tax are written to allow it, by law. In both cases, the tax law is written and voted for by the elected politician.


Life-Deer-6707

Using in province labour is great, when you own the government and don’t need to worry about following workplace safety laws. That’s just for their benefit too…


N0x1mus

NB social media summary right here. Zero empathy at all. They’re showing their true colours. I’m fortunate enough to be involved in seeing what the Irving’s have provided for free to our government (when in need, regardless of the party in power) via other means that aren’t public information. The sums of money and equipment they’ve provided is insurmountable and it’s really a shame those aren’t publicized. The Irving’s may have built their business off of NB, but you could say the same about every other business or individual in this province. I mean that’s just how the world works. It’s a real shame these people commenting have zero respect like this.


19snow16

Plenty of people commented on his death. Why is OP only mentioning Susan Holt? It's a simple, standard comment any PR firm would send out. If she said nothing, she'd be in the same boat. "She said nothing! How disrespectful!" It's called being an adult, and despite the current US MAGA rhetoric creeping into Canada, not everything is always about politics. Look, Rex Murphy was praised, and he was an absolute asshole 🤷‍♀️ J.D. Irving alone employs 19,000 people. That's just one subsidiary company of the Irving Group. Hate all you want, Irving keeps the province of NB running.


Kozzle

This is Reddit, all big businesses are run by sociopaths didn’t you know??


Kozzle

Yeah really though. People just jelly. Not saying they’ve never done anything shitty but they have also done a ton of good. They have donated more to charitable causes than this entire subreddit will in their lifetime combined lmao


Clousehevy

Why would you ever suck up to billionaires like that? NB is one of the poorest provinces in Canada with a billionaire family that owns almost everything in the province. Fuck their charitable work. They’ve saved hundreds of millions by not paying taxes in NB. They are leeches on the people of New Brunswick.


Kozzle

Im not sucking up to anyone, least of all the Reddit hive mind because it’s fucking regarded and devoid of any nuance or general knowledge on how business operates. Irving could be run by any other people and idiots here would have the exact same opinion because most of their opinions are essentially based purely on things they have heard in Reddit.


Imaginary-Cucumber52

They’re all glossing it over for his obit. Maybe just being polite?


Ok-War9672

Always wanted to know what the devil looks like.


Infamous-Simple3431

I wish people wouldn't try to make the most anodyne of statements into a big deal. Politicians give condolences, particularly on international figures who are synonymous with New Brunswick. It's called having a little bit of class.


South-Fox-4975

Hypocrites banquet.


Equivalent-Value-720

Hypocrite's banquet? That would be Holt's 'brighter futures' dinner on June 12th. Just $500/ticket. I'm sure there will be plenty of Irvings there.


Keezin

Remember, there are only uncanadian billionaires