@penpencilbrush On the family that owns New Brunswick
By Abbie Moser / green issue / September 27, 2019

"How one family creates and curates a culture of fear throughout an entire province

"There are very few names that stir up as much debate and controversy in New Brunswick as “Irving” does. As Canada’s eighth wealthiest family, formerly the third wealthiest family in 2014, the Irvings are ranked 13th in terms of most extensive landownership globally, the largest private landowner in Maine, and the fifth largest private landowner in America—the Irving family have disproportionately impacted the historical and contemporary development of my home province. Strong opinions on the Irving family and its corporation are limited to residents of the province, and Canada’s most unknown and corrupt family has gone out of their way to ensure that it has remained this way for decades.

"With their current net worth of $7.38 billion, the Irving family had humble beginnings. The dynastic company got its start back in the 1920s when K.C. Irving started a small service station in his hometown of Bouctouche, New Brunswick. With persistence, he would eventually turn this service station into Irving Oil, a 3,000-franchise distributor across the east coast that controls more than 250 enterprises scattered across North America. None of the various companies that the Irvings own are up for public trade, allowing for no financial transparency. The Irving Oil refinery in #SaintJohn, New Brunswick is the largest oil refinery in all of Canada. The #LungCancer rates in Saint John also just so happen to be 50 percent higher than in #Fredericton and #Moncton, the province’s other major cities, and are likely linked to #environmental factors instead of smoking. Their empire spans from #energy, #forestry, #trucking, #construction, #shipyards, and hardware stores, to owning every single #newspaper in the province (no, I’m not exaggerating), and even a junior league hockey team. Together, the various companies, which are all privately owned by the family, are estimated to be worth $10 billion.

"To feed an oil refinery that produces up to 320,000 barrels a day, Irving imports 100 million barrels of oil each year, most of which comes from #SaudiArabia. The family owns more than 900 gas stations, railway lines, shipping companies, and paper & pulp mills. Supplying 60% of the gasoline in Boston, the Irvings are responsible for nearly one-fifth of American gasoline imports. They employ roughly one in every eight New Brunswickers and account for more than half of the province’s exports.

"K.C. believed heavily in vertical integration and instilled the values of loyalty, hard work, and attention to detail into his empire. He was one of the first Canadians to utilize offshore #TaxHavens, placing his companies in a trust in Bermuda. This move to Bermuda would eventually prompt a Canada Revenue Agency investigation that would reveal that the Irvings’ move allowed them to lower their tax bill by $142 million. Now, roughly a dozen Irving companies are based in Bermuda. Escaping taxes is something that the Irvings are professionals at now. Oil refineries in Alberta that produce the same daily quantity as the one that the Irvings own would pay roughly between $15-16 million a year in taxes while the Irving’s refinery gets away with paying only $5 million.

"The Irvings continue to exploit the province, the natural resources of which have allowed for their wealth and power to flourish, without giving as much as a dime back to the province, allowing for our provincial infrastructure and education systems to suffer. New Brunswick is the second poorest province in Canada—our median income is the lowest amongst the provinces, we have the highest unemployment rates, our provincial government is facing a $453 million deficit, and is paying $685 million a year towards debt-servicing costs. This family doesn’t stop at exploiting the environment; they continue to exploit New Brunswickers, without whom their fortune would not exist. In 2013, it was revealed that Moncton taxpayers paid $88,000 per year to the Moncton Wildcats hockey team to compensate for the loss of income in their corporate seats. Robert Irving owns this hockey team, and the citizens of Moncton were never told that their tax dollars would be distributed to the team. City council made this decision under the condition that another Irving business would establish operations in the city."

Read more:
https://thestrand.ca/on-the-family-that-owns-new-brunswick/

#Pollution #OilRefinery #Oligarchy #Oiligarchy #Toxic

The #OECD website claims they work to create better policies for better lives.

They didn't seem to be doing that when they lobbied against proposed Australian laws that would've made it difficult to transfer money to #TaxHavens.

#Auspol #tax

https://truthout.org/articles/oecd-secretly-lobbied-against-law-requiring-corporations-to-disclose-tax-records/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=fb7a46e5e2-

The UK Government is poisoning your water https://www.doubledown.news/watch/2023/june/19/government-is-poisoning-your-water-george-monbiot #ReNationaliseTheWater #WaterCompanies #PrivateWaterCompanies #GovernmentCorruption #Corruption #TaxHavens #ShitWater #Environment

Oh my, after Qatargate, now this

#EuropeanParliament #TaxHavens #PensionFund

https://euobserver.com/eu-political/157040

@le_friwi_56 Here's the video.

https://youtu.be/4oTsURlqK9MVéro

#attac #taxhavens #saintmalo #video

#TaxFree Day For The Ultra-#Wealthy
https://www.levernews.com/tax-free-day-for-the-ultra-wealthy/
New data show the #wealthiest Americans have stashed $2 trillion in #offshore #taxhavens, as the government relaxes efforts to combat #taxevasion.

RT @acv_csc_europe: ⚠️⚠️⚠️"$ 1 trillion - 1.000.000.000.000 - in the shade - the annual profits #multinational #corporations shift to #taxhavens continues to climb and climb" - Key OpEd by @gabriel_zucman and @LudvigWier👇 #Wealth #CostofLivingCrisis #TimetoTax

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/BotengaM/status/1638561267622244357

Lliçó de #capitalisme: pagaran impostos les classes populars, les corporacions faran com si, l’estat mirarà cap a una altra banda: Las empresas desvían beneficios fuera de España por 19.828 millones #taxhavens #ferrovial #repsol #inditex #desigualtat https://www.eleconomista.es/actualidad/noticias/12192820/03/23/Las-empresas-desvian-beneficios-fuera-de-Espana-por-19828-millones.html

How to use ICIJ's Offshore Leaks database (part 3): https://youtu.be/2O5hxhyFWMI
#icij #icijorg #taxhavens #offshoreproviders #offshorecompanies

How to use ICIJ's Offshore Leaks database (part 2): https://youtu.be/m4bPdZTNS5o
#icij #icijorg #taxhavens #offshoreproviders #offshorecompanies

How to use ICIJ's Offshore Leaks database (part 1): https://youtu.be/k0G83QXrMWA
#icij #icijorg #taxhavens #offshoreproviders

To Save #Democracy, Close #TaxHavens
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/combating-offshore-tax-evasion-would-help-save-ukraine-and-liberal-democracy-by-yuriy-gorodnichenko-and-ilona-sologoub-2023-02

.@EUCouncil added British Virgin Islands 🇻🇬 Costa Rica 🇨🇷 Marshall Islands 🇲🇭 and Russia 🇷🇺 to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

#Taxation #ECOFIN #TaxHavens

Read more👇

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EUCouncilPress/status/1625455187115614212

YES! Nu kommer Rusland og De Britiske Jomfruøer på EU’s skattelyliste.

Begge lande hører til på listen, fordi deres skattesystemer gør det muligt at fifle.

Det gør verdens værste #skattely dog også – men de er ikke på. Håber, @troelslundp tager fat på det problem!

#eudk #dkpol
RT @JohanLangerock: 🔴Out now

Revised 🇪🇺 black and grey list of #taxhavens

My quick takes:
🆕Russia & British Virgin Islands to the blacklist

🇹🇷record-holder grey list (since 2017, shou…

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Kira_MPH/status/1625475004727975936

This financial scandal involving a huge conglomerate is going to shake India to the core.

"Led by billionaire businessman #GautamAdani, the group's seven listed stocks have together lost about $120 billion in market value since a Jan. 24 report by U.S. short-seller #HindenburgResearch accused it of improper use of offshore #TaxHavens and #StockManipulation, allegations the group has denied."

#India's Adani tries to calm investors as regulator confirms probe
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/indias-adani-tries-to-calm-investors-as-regulator-confirms-probe/ar-AA17qAxa

Envie d'un peu de lecture ? Lisez cette superbe enquête qui dresse le portrait de Patrick Hansen, l'homme d'affaires luxembourgeois qui est à l'origine de la fermeture des registres d'entreprises européens.

Les registres d'entreprises permettent de savoir qui est derrière une entreprise.

Alors de qui Patrick Hansen souhaitait -il protéger l'anonymat ?

#occrp et des médias partenaires ont mené l'enquête.

https://www.occrp.org/en/beneficial-ownership-data-is-critical-in-the-fight-against-corruption/this-luxembourg-businessman-got-europes-corporate-registries-shut-down-but-whose-privacy-was-he-protecting

#investigation #Europe #taxhavens #russia

@peterdeppisch Without people, there's no need for #government. Without government, there's no body to collect #taxes. Viola! No need for #TaxHavens. Also - No air. No heat. No protection from the sun. No supplies from home. Minor problems brilliant visionary #billionaires will have no problem solving with their imaginary future #technologies and shiny #apps. May they #suffocate in #peace clutching their #software and #gadgets.

I confess. I'm definitely losing my mind - and lovin' every minute of it. Yee-Haw!

OPINION: Yes, Britain is corrupt. But it’s a lot worse than you think.

"It’s not just a fluke of history that the British state has ended up using its diplomatic and legal might to act as protector to most of the smuggling holes, pirates coves and secret stashes on the planet."

Latest from @adamramsay

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/corruption-perception-index-uk-transparency-international-global/

#Taxhavens #Transparency #Corruption #UK #UKnews #UKpolitics

Will the UK finally tackle its dirty money problem in 2023?

New legislation is set to target corporate corruption and attempts to silence journalists through SLAPP lawsuits.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/economic-crime-corporate-transparency-bill-proposed-slapp-legislation/

#darkmoney #taxhavens #corruption #uknews #uk #slapps

Banking on data

How the world’s tax havens became the data centres for the digital economy

https://www.tni.org/en/publication/banking-on-data

#TNI
#taxhavens
#bankingsecrecy
#taxevasion
#datacentres