text: Tax breaks and concessions In 1981, the provincial government, then-led by Richard Hatfield, granted a tax exemption towards provincial property taxes for Irving Oil's Canaport crude oil farm. Hatfield, who, according to CBC News, "was on record opposing special tax treatment for Irving Oil's Canaport oil terminal," granted the exemption following the 1979 oil crisis. Despite the issues caused by the crisis having long been resolved, the tax exemption has never been removed, saving Irving Oil from having to pay for over $20 million in property taxes since its introduction. Blaine Higgs, the current Premier and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, stated during a 2016 CBC interview with Harry Forestell that he would "support ending a provincial property-tax exemption on Irving Oil's Canaport oil terminal, if a review showed it was no longer needed," though progress regarding the matter has yet to have been made, despite calls for the removal of the exemption, including by provincial Green Party leader David Coon, whose campaign for the 2018 election included the removal of the exemption. In March 2023, Service New Brunswick accidentally reverted the exemption and charged Irving Oil about $580,000 in Canaport property taxes, in what was described as an "inadvertent internal computer incident." The charge was later reverted and the exemption was reinstated.