Irving Oil announces more leadership changes as president steps down
CBC
Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb is resigning from the post as the private company, one of New Brunswick's largest employers, continues a strategic review of its future.
Whitcomb "made a personal decision to step down," after being in the role for more than eight years, the Saint John-based company announced on its website Monday.
The resignation comes on the heels of other major leadership changes at Irving Oil, which has about 4,000 employees.
As of last fall, Arthur Irving, 93, is no longer chair of the board of directors, but chair emeritus. His daughter, Sarah Irving, who was executive vice-president and widely seen as his heir apparent, is no longer part of the leadership team.
The strategic review of the company, announced last June, is continuing and "outcomes associated with it are not yet clear," Maureen Kempston-Darkes, lead director of Irving Oil's board of directors, said in a statement.
A "series of options" related to the company's future are being evaluated, including a new ownership structure, a full or partial sale, or a change in the portfolio of assets and how they are operated, the company has said.
Since no decisions about Whitcomb's replacement have been made, Jeff Matthews, chief financial officer of Irving Oil, "will take the leadership role in this process," Kempston-Darkes said.
Matthews, who joined Irving Oil more than 29 years ago, "has a deep knowledge of our company and the evolving needs of our customers," she said.
The rest of the senior leadership team remains unchanged, according to the release.
Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, an industry consulting firm in Houston, said there could be more behind Whitcomb's decision.
"It might be that they're nearing the finish line on the strategic review process, and that may be leading to the sale of the company to a much bigger oil industry player," he said.
"And perhaps Ian Whitcomb is reading between the lines himself, deciding that his eight and a half years at Irving Oil was enough and perhaps there's something else that he would like to do."
Tom Kloza, founder of Oil Price Information Service, agrees.
"I think the writing is on the wall and there's going to be an ownership change, or at least a joint-venture structure," he said.
Sault Ste. Marie city council will consider a motion at its Monday meeting to look into blocking the Chinese AI chatbot, DeepSeek, from city devices and networks.
Darlene Naugle had difficulties getting around the small community of Port Bickerton on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore when she moved to area from Alberta three years ago to care for her sick daughter.
Skates and hockey sticks on backyard rinks are the definitive sound of winter for many Canadians.
Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich doesn't seem to mind that some Tories might think his claim Manitoba schools are promoting acts of bestiality and incest is impossible to believe.
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly present in people's lives, ranging from the ability to create a generative image in a messages with simple prompts, to using data to reduce workplace injuries.
While Trump's tariffs, housing and health care have received plenty of attention during the Ontario election campaign, educators say voters should pay more attention to where the major parties stand on the province's public school system.
As the Canadian Armed Forces continue to try and dig out of a deep recruitment hole, they're starting to give new recruits with medical conditions a shot at joining the military rather than automatically turning them away.
Israel says the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners is delayed "until the release of the next hostages is assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies" at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Crystal Ellingsen and Jennifer Brady thought their battle with the government of Nova Scotia ended last year, but now they're raising their voices once again to continue the fight.
Ryan Evans of Oromocto, N.B., says he knows how lucky he is.
It has been just over 104 years since Jessie Kirk was inaugurated as the first woman on Winnipeg's City Council — but to this day, only 32 other women have been elected to represent a ward in the city's history.
An apartment building in central Edmonton that shut down late last year after a security guard was killed on-site may be allowed to reopen to tenants.