Canada: Midas of the Maritimes

Flames curled through a straw-and-cloth effigy hanging in the main square of normally sedate Saint John, New Brunswick. Hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the fire and to argue about the object of their anger: Kenneth Colin Irving, the richest man, the biggest landholder and the most contentious entrepreneur in Canada's Maritime Provinces.

K. C. Irving last week was up to his bald crown in one of the longest labor disputes yet witnessed by economically depressed New Brunswick. It began 19 weeks ago, when 145 members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union stomped out of Irving's $52 million...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!