Billionaire businessman Arthur Irving dead at 93
Second son of K.C. Irving ran Canada’s biggest oil refinery in Saint John
Arthur Irving, the hard-charging New Brunswick billionaire who ran Canada's largest oil refinery, has died at the age of 93.
For decades, Arthur Irving ran Irving Oil, including its Saint John refinery. He became famous for his obsession with customer service, especially his unannounced visits to check the cleanliness of Irving gas station washrooms.
Irving was the middle son of K.C. Irving, the industrialist who built a single gas station, sawmill and general store into a family-controlled industrial conglomerate, making him and his three sons among Canada's wealthiest entrepreneurs.
In a rare 1998 interview with CBC New Brunswick, Arthur Irving articulated the energy and drive that was his trademark.
Forbes
Magazine estimated Arthur Irving’s wealth at $6.4 billion as of May 6
and ranked him as the eighth-richest person in Canada in 2023. (CBC )
"We want our employees to be proud of us, we want to be proud of them and we want to keep going down the road and making this part of the country a better place to live," he said.
Jabbing the air for emphasis, he added: "That's our drive, every day. Every day. Every day!"
The Arthur Irving Family Trust became sole owner of Irving Oil in 2018 when it bought out a one-third stake in the company owned by the children of Arthur's late younger brother Jack.
Forbes Magazine estimated Arthur Irving's wealth at $6.4 billion as of May 6 and ranked him as the eighth richest person in Canada in 2023.
He is survived by his second wife, Sandra, his children Jennifer, Kenneth, Arthur, Emily and Sarah, and his older brother J.K. Irving, 96. His younger brother Jack died in 2010.
During his 1980 divorce from his first wife, Joan Carlisle Irving, Arthur described his tight bond with his father and two brothers.
"When anybody takes on an Irving, they are going to take on all four of us, okay?" he said, according to a court transcript.
Jack Irving's son John issued a statement paying tribute to his uncle.
"I join with my family and all our employees in expressing our deepest condolences to his wife, Sandra, and his children, and their families," he said in a statement.
Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon said in a social media post that Irving left a permanent mark on the city's landscape.
"His legacy in Saint John is immeasurable, and his contributions will forever be felt," she said.
Uncertain time
Arthur's death comes at a time of great uncertainty for Irving Oil, which employs 4,000 people and processes 320,000 barrels of crude oil a day at its refinery.
Last year Irving Oil shocked the province and the energy sector when it announced a "strategic review" that it said could lead to the full or partial sale of the business.
A few months later, Arthur Irving left his role as chair of the company, becoming chair emeritus.
His daughter Sarah — who had been the only one of his children still working at Irving Oil and widely seen as his heir apparent — left her position of executive vice-president at the same time.
The lack of any Irving family member on the senior leadership team added to the rumours and speculation about the company's future as a privately-held, family-owned business.
The Saint John refinery is also New Brunswick's largest emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases while public policy is trying to drive a transition to other energy sources.
"We want to be part of the solution," Irving told author Donald Savoie in a 2020 book, and the company has been exploring decarbonization projects.
Born on July 14, 1930, Arthur played hockey and rugby at Rothesay Collegiate, a private school outside Saint John, and was known for his smooth-talking charm.
Brothers
J.K., Arthur and Jack Irving in a photo taken in 2007. The three sons
of K.C. Irving had begun the negotiating to carve up the conglomerate
that year to get ahead of new federal legislation that would tax income
from offshore trusts. (CBC)
He attended Acadia University but did not graduate and joined the family business, overseeing Irving Oil.
"He could mesmerize anyone and made a terrific salesman," his first wife Joan once said.
"Art's a super-salesman," his older brother, J.K. Irving, told CBC in 1998.
He also saw himself as a conservationist, enjoying long canoe trips in Canada's north and supporting Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands preservation organization, where he eventually became national president.
U.S. expansion
The 1988 Canada-U.S. free trade agreement paved the way for Arthur to oversee a major Irving Oil expansion into the U.S., starting in Maine.
"The richest market in the world is in the northeastern seaboard of the United States. That is the natural way for us to go," Arthur told biographer John DeMont around that time.
Today 80 per cent of Irving Oil's refined products are exported to the U.S.
In May 1994, Arthur stared down the union representing refinery workers when they walked off the job in what would turn into a strike lasting more than two years.
The company won an injunction to limit picketing and managers kept the refinery running.
In August 1996 the union voted to accept a contract that included concessions on seniority, and that allowed the company to fire 37 workers including the union president, a clear victory for the company.
In 2005 Arthur named his son Kenneth as CEO of Irving Oil. But Kenneth left abruptly in 2010 and later revealed he suffered a mental health breakdown at the same time his relationship with his father fell apart.
He went to court in Bermuda to challenge his father's plan for a new, billion-dollar trust to be established in the offshore tax haven.
Father-son legal battle
The three sons of K.C. Irving had begun negotiating the carving up of the conglomerate in 2007 to get ahead of new federal legislation that would tax income from offshore trusts.
A lawyer acting for Arthur called it "probably the most protracted and expensive trust rearrangement in legal history."
As part of the agreement to split the Irving empire, Arthur and his family gained two-thirds ownership of Irving Oil through their Bermuda-based trust.
But Kenneth opposed how his father wanted to structure the trust, which led to a legal battle and to the two men becoming estranged.
"It unfortunately is a long-standing pattern of negotiating with my father. Unless he knows that I have the resolve to go the whole way, I'll be stonewalled," Kenneth testified in a Bermuda court.
In 2013 Arthur helped promote the proposed Energy East pipeline that would have brought Alberta crude across six provinces to Saint John for export from a terminal that would have been co-owned by Irving Oil.
The project was cancelled in 2017.
Irving Oil acquired an oil refinery in Ireland in 2016 and a chain of gas stations in the country in 2019.
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Arthur Irving remembered for leadership and enthusiasm for New Brunswick
Formidable businessman left a mark on his home province, acquaintances say
The death of Arthur Irving is causing New Brunswickers who knew him best to pause and reflect on his legacy.
The billionaire businessman who died Monday at the age of 93 served as chair emeritus of Irving Oil Ltd. later in his life after running the company for many years. Based in Saint John, the company owns Canada's largest oil refinery.
"He never lost his enthusiasm for the province, for the business, for the people that were in it," said Premier Blaine Higgs, who worked at Irving Oil for 33 years.
"And he never lost appreciation for everyone that he served as a customer and who worked in the business. And I think that respect was demonstrated in everything that he did."
He said he recalls Irving as having a humble nature and unshakable pride in being a New Brunswicker.
Premier Blaine Higgs, who worked for Irving Oil for 33 years, says he took inspiration from Irving's leadership style. (Radio-Canada)
"He never felt that he had a big company," Higgs said. "In the size of Irving Oil, compared to the Exxon Mobils, and the Ultramars and Shells, he always felt it was a small, regional company and it could compete in a big world.
"And I think that's the vision that we share as a province, that every day we can work a little harder to be a bigger and better province."
As premier, Higgs said, he applies lessons from Irving's leadership style.
"Yes, it has had an influence, in the sense that you plan, you look at information and you study it ahead, and you decide on where to go next and the idea is you've got to make a decision and get on with it," Higgs said.
"And you just can't continually talk about something."
Arthur Irving was 'the real deal'
Former Saint John mayor Don Darling described Irving's death as a tremendous loss for New Brunswick but also for his city.
"Mr. Irving was a passionate champion of our region, of our city," Darling said.
"I had a couple of occasions to sit with Mr. Irving when I was mayor. And the very first thing he said was, 'How can I help you, mayor? How can we help the city?'"
Darling echoed the fact that Irving took pride in New Brunswick, both by employing so many locals and keeping his oil refinery and headquarters in Saint John.
Former Saint John mayor Don Darling says Irving's loss will be felt across the city, province and country. (Joseph Tunney/CBC)
He noted the company is in a time of uncertainty and change, and the death of Irving's death might add to that.
"I think it really marks a transition that was coming."
Last June, the company announced a strategic internal review that could lead to the sale of the company.
Darling said it is also a time of great responsibility for the company to navigate its responsibility with climate change, and Irving would have been involved in it.
Despite the uncertainty over where the company's headed, Darling said the business and those who knew Irving will continue to move forward.
"That's what he would want. I mean, I can almost hear him saying, 'You know what? Chin up, eyes forward, and go make something great happen.'"
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long said that of the many meetings he had with Irving, he will remember his passion.
"He would always come over and talk and shake your hand and, you know, genuinely ask about you and how you were," Long said.
"He was grounded. He was the real deal and he's really going to be missed."
Lawyer recalls Irving's respect for employees
Former New Brunswick senator John Wallace fondly recalls the 17 years he worked as a lawyer for Irving Oil, collaborating closely with Arthur and his brother Jack Irving.
"Of all the people that have influenced me in my career in law and the Senate, of all of it, my happiest days, my most satisfying days I had were working with Arthur and Jack at Irving," Wallace said.
"Arthur, he could challenge you, you had lots of responsibility, you were expected to perform, but he had that special knack of being able to draw the best out of people."'
Former
New Brunswick Senator John Wallace worked as a lawyer for Irving for 17
years, and fondly recalls the business leader's work ethic. (CBC)
Wallace called Irving a unique leader who was hard-working and led by example.
"When you were having discussions, you weren't leaning back in your chair, you were on the edge of your chair," he said.
The work environment under Irving was not without its challenges and pressure, Wallace recalled, but Irving put a great amount of trust and responsibility on his employees.
"So many times, you found out a lot about yourself when you thought you had achieved all you could, gee, there was more there. Arthur just had that ability to draw it out of people."
Irving Oil, J.D. Irving issue statements
An obituary posted on the Irving Oil website says Irving worked for the company for 73 years.
"He shook the hand of everyone he met, remembered every name, and had a wonderful ability to make every person he met feel a special connection," the website says.
"On behalf of everyone at Irving Oil, we thank you for the business, Mr. Irving. It's been an honour."
J.D. Irving, the company owned by Arthur's brother, J.K Irving, released a brief statement on his death.
"On behalf of our family and all employees at J.D. Irving, Limited, I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to Arthur's family, and the entire team at Irving Oil, on Arthur's passing today," J.K. wrote.
In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Irving Oil one of Canada's top employers and Arthur Irving a "symbol of Canadian entrepreneurship and success."
New Brunswick Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy, Beauséjour MP Dominic Leblanc and Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon were among other prominent New Brunswickers to mark Irving's death with statements on social media.
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With files from Danielle McCreadie
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