Irvine Barrow

Who was Irvine Barrow?

Augustus Irvine Barrow was a Canadian chartered accountant and Senator.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Hartley F. Barrow and Margaret E., his family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1918. He attended the Maritime Business College. After working as an accountant he was admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia in 1939.

In 1946, he co-founded an accounting firm with J. C. Nicoll, which grew to have several branches in the Maritime provinces known as Barrow Nicoll & Company. He was President of the Nova Scotia Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He was also a Director of the Bank of Canada and the Industrial Development Bank.

He was a member of the Board of Governors of Dalhousie University and chairman of its budget committee. A Liberal supporter, he was President of both the Nova Scotia and the Halifax County Liberal Associations. He was also the chair of the 1962 and 1963 federal election campaigns for Lester B. Pearson.

In 1974, he was appointed by Pierre Trudeau to the Senate representing the senatorial division of Halifax-Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He was Chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce and Deputy Chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance. He served until his retirement in 1988.