IRVING gives the Province its marching orders…

…in a Telegraph Journal editorial in the Wednesday, January 30th edition of the paper. The editorial threatens the Province, NB Power, and by extension, the people of New Brunswick, that if electricity rates for industrial customers are not brought down to a “competitive level,” Irving and other industrial employers will take their jobs elsewhere. If the big industrial employers are forced to leave New Brunswick for more profit-dedicated jurisdictions, the editorial prophesies a “three-way collapse”: “New Brunswick’s foresty and manufacturing sector,” “NB Power,” and “the provincial government” (my emphasis) will crumble in the vacuum left by Irving and like-minded industrial electricity consumers. These are serious consequences indeed.
Electricity costs are just the latest “cost of doing business” that industrial producers have targeted. And New Brunswick continues to play the game to which the editorial challenges us. For example, New Brunswick has one of the lowest business tax rates in Canada. On the web page on which the Province of New Brunswick lists the many attractive reasons companies should do business in this province, 1 the government brags that “New Brunswick has one of the lowest effective tax rates according to the C.D. Howe Institute.” And we read that the government continues to take “significant and substantial steps to ensure a competitive business environment in the province through specific tax measures.” Translated into regular language, the government of New Brunswick lowers business taxes in order to keep them the lowest in Canada. When another jurisdiction (usually another province, but presumably an American state, too) lowers their business tax rate, New Brunswick lowers our business tax rate to ensure we ask the least of our businesses. This is all in the pursuit of new business, and an attempt to forestall the kind of threat in today’s editorial.

So New Brunswick, compared with other Canadian provinces, offers some of the lowest labour costs (ie: the lowest wages), the lowest tax rate, and lower than average electricity costs. What else could a company, especially companies that are allowed to cut crown lands with little public management, want? Lower electricity rates than in competing jurisdictions, and more wood to cut, to start. Every cost to the business is a possible target.

Other jurisdictions play the game too, and so we all join the race to the bottom.

Why would J.D. Irving, a local company with strong roots in Saint John, and in New Brunswick, need to worry about having the lowest tax rates in Canada, more wood to cut, AND cheaper electricity? Like all companies, Irving has to keep its shareholders happy by providing ever better returns. But….no. J.D. Irving doesn’t offer shares to the public. Then why the push? Ah yes: Irving greed.

Notes:

1 ie: low labour costs, comparatively low taxation, inexpensive electricity and other energy sources, etc. The Province of New Brunswick page don’t explicitly mention the province’s acquiescent public and the fact that a large industrial company owns almost all of the media outlets in the province. But you can be sure such things are discussed over drinks between government officials and the owners of companies considering opening plants here.

“Why negative Irving attitude?”

The Telegraph Journal of Thursday, December 20th contained the following letter to the editor:

Mr. Mason gives us a lot to respond to here. Let’s have a look at Mr. Mason’s contention that Irving has “companies that bring prosperity to our province and ask nothing in return, other than to have us earn our pay.” (our emphasis) We’ll grant that maybe Mr. Mason is simply not aware of all of the many ways Irving receives special treatment when it comes to environmental impact studies, the price they pay for electricity and water, and basic land taxation. We think that most reasonably informed citizens of Saint John will be able to recall an example in each of the above categories. The stories were so big that even the Irving papers had to cover them.

Recently, Saint John’s City Council gave Irving Oil and its partner, the Spanish energy company Repsol, a 100-million dollar tax break over the next ten years. Why did Saint John give Irving such an astoundingly generous tax break? CBC reports that “Mayor Norm McFarlane told council the companies gave him a midnight deadline to make the secret deal, or the plant wouldn’t be built.”

Only someone willfully uninformed, or exceptionally naive, could believe that Irving (Oil, in this case) demands nothing in return for our allowing them to make millions of dollars in profit in New Brunswick.

In case this kind of thing is important to anyone, we should quickly respond to Mr. Mason’s unfair and naive characterization of critics of Irving’s activities: none of the editors or contributors to this blog is on social assistance (not that there’s anything wrong with being on social assistance) nor do we play bingo. We do admit to hoisting a glass of beer from time to time. But we insist it is almost always high quality locally-brewed, union-made beer. We do not apologize for this.

“Provocative stickers aimed at Irving…”

CBC Television reports on the appearance of some stickers around Saint John. We’ve heard that they’ve appeared more recently in Fredericton too.

Q and A

1. Q. Why Irving?

A. Because the Irving group of companies is greedy, cavalier, rapacious, and undemocratic. Unlike many companies and organizations in our community, the Irving group of companies undertake activies with an anti-competitive, vindictive attitude. What to find out what we mean? Try starting a newspaper in New Brunswick…even just a fun, local-issues paper like [here] once was.

2. Q. Why “greed”?

A. The Irving group of companies has produced a every expensive perception that they are good “corporate citizens.” The companies’ tightly-managed publicity campaigns are the only voice sanctioned in mainstream discussion in New Brunswick. We hope that people so personally and intimately impacted by Irving’s activities keep in mind why companies, including Irving, undertake projects that appear to be in the public interest: to make more, and faster, profit. Companies do not act with any other intention than to expand and increase profit. Irving’s public profile is a carefully managed tool to attain their greater goal: profit.

3. Q. Why now?

A. Irving companies have long had undue influence on political decisions in Saint John, and elsewhere in New Brunswick. We have been compelled to act now because of Irving’s increased overzealous and anti-democratic activities. Citizens of New Brunswick have reacted like never before to the same issues with which we are very concerned:

• Huge investment in regressive technology: a second oil refinery in our already environmentally devastated city.
• The Post-Secondary Education report that suggests that UNBSJ be fundamentally changed, transforming our degree-granting university into a polytechnic school which would serve Irving’s, and others businesses’, need for skilled labour. We will not allow our eductation system to be molded to the desires and (stated or simply understood) requirements of business or industry.
• Lack of environmental responsibility.
• Union busting and general anti-labour activities.
• Aggressive control of the media.
• So much more!

4. Q. But doesn’t the Irving group of companies donate lots of money to worthy causes in Saint John and elsewhere?

A. That depends how you define “lots.” But no matter what “lots” means to you, we’re not really sure what proportion of Irving’s undoubtedly spectacular profits are dedicated to carefully chosen local causes: the Irving companies are privately-held, and family-owned. They choose to not disclose their financial information. Irving profits do not get distributed to share holders who can demand detailed financial information. The profits go to, well, the Irvings.

What we do know is that when an Irving company choses to make a financial donation, it is carefully managed, well publicized, and always has the goal of keeping public opinion in the favour of “Irving.” Who still calls Taylor Island its real name? We all now know it as the “Irving Nature Park.”

5. Q. But without Irving, where would all the people that work for Irving make their living?

A. No one would argue against the many skilled and well-paid jobs in New Brunswick that Irving’s activities generate. But we believe that good jobs are possible without the environmental detestation, undemocratic influence, media domination, anti-competitive activities, and plain bullying for which Irving is well and accurately recognized.

6. Q. I think Saint John and New Brunswick are better off with Irving’s activities, and the amount of political power the companies wield. How do I get my point of view addressed here?

A. The position you describe is the orthodox opinion and is reproduced in just about all of the mainstream media. Please write a letter to the Telegraph Journal and tell them your opinion: it will probably be published (see our posting titled “Why negative Irving attitude?” from December 24th, 2007, for example).