Remembering Arthur Irving, an old school corporate leader  

Arthur Irving, the New Brunswick industrialist who died this month at the age of 93, used to have his name listed in the Saint John phone book, back when phone books were still a thing. That way, when an Irving Oil customer had a complaint, they could call him directly. That says a lot about Mr. Irving, who was an old-school ‘captain of industry’ in all the best ways. He valued his customers, his employees, his region and spotless washrooms in the Irving chain of service stations.  He wasn’t nearly so worried about gaining recognition for his own accomplishments as he spent half a century guiding the growth of Irving Oil, which operates Canada’s largest refinery in Saint John.

Indeed, Mr. Irving so rarely spoke to reporters that CBC news had to dust off its archives after his death to find an interview from 1998. His remarks back then were telling. “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. That’s our drive, every day. Every day. Every day!”

Often, Mr. Irving’s quest to build a better region was pursued in quiet ways. Arthur Willms, who was in charge of building the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, vividly recalled meeting Arthur Irving and his son Kenneth in early June 1997. At the time, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were squabbling over tolls linked to the yet-to-be-built pipeline, which would eventually export offshore gas through both provinces and thus to markets in the US northeast.

Mr. Irving offered tea and cookies to Mr. Willms and his colleagues, who explained that the little fracas between Nova Scotia Premier John Savage and Frank McKenna, his New Brunswick counterpart, posed a threat to the pipeline project. Arthur Irving’s response? He asked his son to find out where McKenna was working and told him to line up the corporate jet. Then the Irvings promptly left the meeting, leaving Mr, Willms and his entourage to the tea and cookies.  Willms never knew what the Irvings might have said (or not said) to Mr. McKenna, but history shows McKenna and Savage hammered out the framework of a tolling agreement a few days later, on June 17, 1997.

The pipeline got built, a good thing as far as the CrowsNest crew is concerned.  It brought a ‘greener’ fossil fuel to the region and still does and was integral to the development of two offshore gas projects. As for Arthur Irving’s role in the saga, he’s taken that story to his grave. His spirit can rest assured, though, that his contribution to this region is well understood, as the tributes of his former employees and colleagues attest. A portrait of the man emerges – his handshake was his word; his enthusiasm was as boundless as his love of the region; and if he expected his employees to scale Alpine peaks to get things done, they could be certain he was trekking alongside them, carrying his share of the load. 

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