Latest news with #AlainBégin
CBC
27-06-2025
- CBC
How long to pay off $800K in illegal cigarette fines? 32,000 months, a judge calculates
Social Sharing Nova Scotia provincial court Judge Alain Bégin put a fine point on the absurdity of the situation with some quick math: it will take 32,000 months for the 68-year-old man he was sentencing on contraband cigarette charges to pay off the massive fines that, by law, had to be imposed. On Wednesday, David Barrie confirmed he was pleading guilty to two counts related to possessing unstamped tobacco, charges that stemmed from 650,000 illegal cigarettes discovered by RCMP in a van the man was driving two years ago near Truro, N.S. The violations were under the federal Excise Act and provincial Revenue Act, which prescribe formulas to determine the minimum fine amount, based on the number of cigarettes seized and the tax evaded. In Barrie's case, the calculation amounts to a whopping $886,296.80, an astronomical amount for a man the court was told is disabled, unemployed and lives on an Old Age Security pension. "What's your intention with regards to minimum payment?" Bégin asked him in a Truro courtroom. "Two hundred bucks a month? A hundred bucks a month? What are you gonna do? You pay $50 a month towards your $800,000 bill?" "He was hoping for maybe 25," Jim O'Neil, Barrie's lawyer, replied. "All right, $25 a month on your $800,000 bill," concluded Bégin, who out of curiosity did a quick calculation. "Yeah, 32,000 months to pay off your fine." In an interview, O'Neil said the minimum fines for illegal tobacco charges are set out in federal and provincial legislation, and judges have no discretion. It's an issue, he said, that has long bothered him when it comes to clients who are too poor to pay. In one case involving a single mother, O'Neil said, he sought to challenge the fine based on her poverty, but after researching the case law realized the argument would not succeed in charges involving contraband tobacco. When faced with such situations, he said, the only thing judges can do is "modify the impact" on the offender by ordering them to pay small monthly amounts, with no illusions the total fine will ever be paid off. "An awful lot of people who are involved in contraband tobacco are themselves addicted to tobacco or they're poor," O'Neil said. "For some reason, governments have singled out this particular offence for these huge fines and it's not proportionate to any other wrongdoings we may do as citizens." 'Nothing to show for it' Revenue from tobacco taxes has dropped significantly in Nova Scotia in recent years. Smoking rates have declined, but a provincial cabinet minister acknowledged this spring that contraband sales may also be eating into the government's bottom line. Provincial tobacco enforcement officers seized a record number of illegal cigarettes last year, although the statistics don't include seizures by police forces. Barrie was arrested on May 27, 2023, after police pulled over a Ford Econoline van at the interchange of highways 102 and 104 outside of Truro, according to an RCMP police release at the time. Officers obtained a search warrant and found the unstamped cigarettes. O'Neil told the court Wednesday that Barrie was only a courier for someone else. "That's even worse. He wasn't going to get the benefit" from the sale of the cigarettes, O'Neil said. "Or the most foolish part, perhaps," Bégin replied. "Worse or most foolish, taking all the risk, going to get the penalty, and nothing to show for it."
CBC
27-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
N.S. judge reprimanded for conduct had undiagnosed mental disorder, review says
A Nova Scotia judge who has faced scrutiny over his comments and actions in a number of cases and has been harshly criticized by the province's top court has been reprimanded, but he will not face a judicial council hearing that could have stripped him of his job. In a decision released Thursday, the majority of the three-person review committee said provincial court Judge Alain Bégin was suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder at the time of his poor conduct, but he's sought treatment and the illness is now in "remission." The report does not identify Bégin's disorder. "The relationship between Judge Bégin's personal medical issues and his conduct was a key factor for the majority's conclusion that removal was not an appropriate outcome for the complaints," the majority decision from two members said. "While it did not excuse or mitigate its impact, it does help to explain how and why the misconduct occurred." Investigation The review examined complaints against Bégin involving three cases. In one, he called a man on trial for abusing a stepdaughter a "sexual deviant" and said he had "no doubt" he was guilty, comments he made before final arguments in the case. When the case was appealed, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal had trouble listening to the recording of the trial because Bégin had put restrictions on the audio, claiming his comments were "off the record." In another case, the Court of Appeal called his conduct "offensive to societal notions of fair play." During a hearing, Bégin called his own witnesses from the Mi'kmaw Legal Support Network to refute what he referred to as baseless allegations that he was biased against Indigenous offenders. Lawyers for the defendant had asked him to recuse himself from the case due to comments he had made. The judge accused one of them of being unprepared and misleading, a view the Court of Appeal found was not supported. In a third case, he referred to a sexual assault as an "aggressive pass" and made other comments the review committee said could be interpreted as minimizing the seriousness of sexual assault. Committee divided Bégin admitted to the "very serious misconduct," according to the review committee. He agreed to a reprimand, must apologize to a number of people, communities and the public, continue treatment for his mental illness, be mentored by a senior judge, and take a number of courses. Bégin declined an interview request from CBC News. His lawyer, Frank Addario, said in a statement that Bégin knows his conduct fell below what he and his community expected, and he will be making apologies. He took time off for treatment and has returned to the bench. "Judge Bégin regrets his conduct and the impacts that it had on the community, including victims, defendants, court staff, and his colleagues," the statement said. "Judge Bégin knows it is an immense privilege to be a judge, and he tries to approach his job conscientiously. He made mistakes because of some personal and professional challenges he was facing in recent years." A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia judiciary said Judge Alan Tufts, the chair of the review committee, would not be commenting. The other two members of the committee were Joseph Gillis, who was appointed by Nova Scotia's minister of justice, and Melanie Petrunia, who was appointed by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society. The committee was not unanimous in its decision not to send Bégin to a judicial council hearing. Petrunia argued he should be, writing that his conduct rises to the level where removing him from the bench "may be warranted." She noted the Court of Appeal used words like "astonishing," "startling," "alarming" and "disturbing" to describe his conduct in the case involving the stepfather. She said there was a need for "transparency and accountability." A hearing before the judicial council would allow for "the proper consideration of the impact of the judge's behaviour on the Indigenous community, in light of the principle of reconciliation." While she did not want to diminish Bégin's mental illness, she said a hearing could more rigorously examine his medical issues and whether those were mitigating factors in his behaviour. Support from other judges The other two members of the panel, however, found Bégin should not be sent to a full hearing. They noted letters of support for him from four judges. Chief provincial court Judge Perry Borden, who "initiated" the three complaints against Bégin, also wrote a letter saying he didn't believe Bégin should be removed from the bench or suspended, and he "would be pleased to continue to work with him." "The majority concluded that Judge Bégin's removal from judicial office was not necessary and that the agreed resolution would be capable of maintaining the public's confidence in the judge's ability to perform the duties of his office and in the administration of justice generally," the majority decision said. It said that after a medical leave, Bégin returned to the bench a year ago. The Nova Scotia courts website lists him as presiding in Dartmouth.
