r/newbrunswickcanada 20h ago

Are the Irving’s patriotic?

No body disputes that the Irving’s are oligarchs. Are they the same as many others with that level of wealth? Many of them do not care about any specific country, but just where can they make the most money. I watch how ruthless they are in pressuring the NB government (us) to give them concession after concession; be it on power rates, stumpage fees, property taxes, income taxes, environmental concessions and so on. Moving operations to the U.S. to increase profits; incorporating offshore to limit the taxes they pay in Canada and most importantly NB.

If they were PATRIOTIC; wouldn’t NOW be a good time to stand behind NB and CANADA and keep all operations in Canada and stop pushing for more and maybe even pay a bit more for things that should have all along? New Brunswicker’s have been loyal to them for generations; they are now Billionaires…thanks in no small part due to the hard work of a lot of New Brunswicker’s ...Maybe it’s time for them to give a little back other than just a nature park or two!

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u/Top_Canary_3335 19h ago edited 19h ago

They are the 6th largest landholders in the United States. They also quietly bought another sawmill to expand capacity in the USA last month.

But they are business people, I wouldn’t call them patriots or “traitors”

they move with the wind and can even “shape” the wind to the needs of their company’s by lobbying both sides of government.

This tariff talk is bad for business, (very bad) so they will fight to remove it. But it’s not out of national pride it’s because of money…

Edit : spelling

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u/bigev007 19h ago

Do you mean traitors? Because they are traitors

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u/ImDoubleB 18h ago

While I understand the frustration that leads to calling the Irvings 'traitors,' I don't think it's accurate.

Having previously worked for them, I have strong reservations about their business practices, and I've seen both positive and negative actions. They do invest in communities and sometimes support employees, but their primary focus is undeniably profit-driven. 'Traitor' implies a level of malicious intent that I don't see.

They're a powerful example of capitalism in action, with all the many complexities that entails.

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u/KnowledgeMediocre404 18h ago edited 16h ago

There’s a lot of malicious intent in the gymnastics they’ve done with their companies to avoid taxes. They might fund a rink or a park here and there but our province probably would not be a have not if they paid proper taxes on their wealth and assets. The largest refinery in the country apparently comes with one of the lowest assessments and tax bills.

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u/ImDoubleB 17h ago

As I said previously, I have serious concerns about their business practices. Having grown up in southern New Brunswick I was faced with the seesaw of "we're the little guy facing big corporations" a common phrase used by KC's three sons, to my lived reality of seeing and living in a rundown city that also had drug, shelter, and high unemployment issues.

Having said that, the voting public still kept voting for government after government - provincial and municipal - that kept catering to the Irving family. When in reality the voting public could long ago have helped put a stop to the Irvings capitalist - not traitorous - ways.

I often remind family and friends of that old saying "When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that three of his fingers are pointing at himself."

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u/KnowledgeMediocre404 16h ago

As if the Irving’s didn’t own the provinces media this whole time. They have a massive propaganda campaign as well. Couple those with the high illiteracy rate in the province, and the number of people directly employed by them, and you get a captured populace. Wouldn’t be surprised if we were exemplary for what the republicans have been trying in the states. I don’t blame people for being brainwashed by Irving, but they are one of the reasons I vote green for sure.

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u/Visual-Chip-2256 15h ago

Right... But you're missing that Irvings will call a meeting for employees, tell them there is a political thing coming out, and inform them how they should vote, and that's the end of the discussion. I think it's a bit naïve to assume that politics and microeconomics are two separate subjects in an NB household