A New Brunswick businessman is among five people receiving honours from a Halifax university in May.
John K.F. Irving will be awarded an honourary Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Kings College.
He is being recognized for his contributions to sustaining local journalism and his efforts to preserve buildings and archival objects of historic significance.
Irving is the president of Saint John-based Ocean Capital Investments (OCI), which has interests in broadcasting, real estate and construction, among other business lines.
Ocean Capital is the parent company of Acadia Broadcasting Corp., which owns 15 radio stations across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario, along with Maritime online business news publication Huddle.
“Acadia Broadcasting’s media form a vital and increasingly rare network delivering local news, sports and entertainment radio to less densely-populated regions — communities often poorly-served by the trend toward concentrating news and reporting out of major centers,” said a release from the university.
OCI also owns Commercial Properties Limited, a real estate development and property management company, and OSCO Construction Group.
“Depending on who you ask, any one of the companies Irving has run or been affiliated with can be credited with making a substantial positive impact on communities spread across Canada — be it through the sensitive restoration of historic buildings undertaken by Commercial Properties Limited, or the many jobs and important industrial contracts created through OSCO Construction Group,” said the release.
Also receiving honours are Gordon Earle, who drafted the first Nova Scotia Human Rights Act and was the first Black Nova Scotian elected to parliament; Nova Scotia journalist Sherri Borden Colley; musician Chris “Old Man” Luedecke; and Janet Hathaway, in recognition of her years of service to the college as its university librarian and archivist.
This radio station is owned by Acadia Broadcasting Corp, which is part of Ocean Capital Investments.
