Top 10 richest Canadians

#3 J.K., Arthur & the late John Irving; 84 and 81. Worth: $8.07B, 3.5% 2011 rank: 3 Saint John, N.B.; Irving Oil Ltd., JD Irving Ltd. The Irvings possess extraordinary wealth, courtesy of their extensive East Coast oil and timber businesses, and they do not part with it lightly. In 1970, the Irving Whale oil barge sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, resulting in a significant oil spill that fouled the shoreline of the Magdalen Islands. The wreck ... more 

#3 J.K., Arthur & the late John Irving; 84 and 81. Worth: $8.07B, 3.5% 2011 rank: 3 Saint John, N.B.; Irving Oil Ltd., JD Irving Ltd. The Irvings possess extraordinary wealth, courtesy of their extensive East Coast oil and timber businesses, and they do not part with it lightly. In 1970, the Irving Whale oil barge sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, resulting in a significant oil spill that fouled the shoreline of the Magdalen Islands. The wreck lay at the bottom of the gulf, still containing a large quantity of oil, until 1996, when the federal government raised the barge, but was unable to force the Irvings to pay the bill. Ottawa sued for more than $42 million, but at a meeting in 2000 James Kenneth Irving and other company officials instead reached an agreement to settle for a $5-million payment. That amount was significant—it happened to be the limit of Irving’s marine insurance coverage. And just last April—more than four decades after the sinking—the Irving companies obtained a judgment for roughly the same amount against its insurance underwriters in connection with the sinking and its legal fallout. The company now operates the Whale as a wood chip barge. less