Latest news with #JimONeil
CBC
5 days ago
- 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."
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Making Manchester Britain's second city should be a national priority'
Manchester should be Britain's second city, a leading economist has said. Lord Jim O'Neil has called for more powers to be shifted to regions like it has in Greater Manchester. The ex-Treasury Minister, who was born in Manchester and grew up in Gatley, made the comments on a podcast recorded with Lord Speaker Lord McFall of Alcluith. On the podcast, the ex-Goldman Sachs chief economist backs calls by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham for more devolved welfare-related spending, and recommends building a 'Northern Elizabeth Line' to unlock connectivity between cities across the UK. READ MORE: 'I'm a homeless single mum, an NHS nurse and want to work full-time - but a DWP rule means I can't' READ MORE: They thought they'd never be caught, until it all went wrong During the discussion, the former Conservative government minister also advocates for powers for regions to raise local taxes. He said: "When I mention that to policymakers here, they think I'm bonkers. "And the only reason they think I'm bonkers is because it's never happened. "But because it's never happened, why does that mean it shouldn't happen?" He added: 'How can people, as well-intentioned as they may be sitting here in Whitehall, have the slightest idea about what's really needed in these local areas? It's virtually impossible. "People here (in Westminster) need to have excitement about giving responsibility to local people in these places to make a national difference. "If you could have, say, three or four other places, West Midlands, North-East, probably West Yorkshire and two or three others … if they all could be doing the same as Greater Manchester has done, and Manchester carries on doing, the national growth performance of the UK, the trend rate of growth, would rise. "Glasgow would be a place that could make a difference to the national growth performance. So I'd definitely include Glasgow." At another point in the wide-ranging discussion, Lord O'Neill said: "Thomas Heatherwick, the great young architect, said to me, 'I have this crazy idea about making Manchester the second city of the country and it being a national priority.' I said, 'You're right'." The episode is the latest in a series of Lord Speaker's Corner podcasts which has previously included Lord Heseltine, Lord Kinnock, Baroness Kidron and Lord Patten among others. The podcast is available to watch on YouTube.
Bloomberg
14-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
BofA Promotes Jeff Tannenbaum to Lead European Dealmakers
Bank of America Corp. named Jeff Tannenbaum the new head of corporate and investment banking across Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of a slew of changes in the Wall Street bank's international division. Tannenbaum is replacing Jim O'Neil, who is taking a role in the UK government, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg. He will join the global corporate and investment banking and EMEA executive committees at the firm, the memo said.
Reuters
13-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US senator calls for stronger ethics commitments from Trump deputy health secretary pick
WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called on President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy U.S. health secretary to recuse himself from decisions related to former clients and employers in the healthcare industry for at least four years. Jim O'Neil, a health policy adviser with ties to several healthcare companies, is up for confirmation by the Senate as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. In a Monday letter to O'Neil reviewed by Reuters, Warren asked that he pledge to not seek compensation for four years after leaving office from any companies he regulated while serving, and to not lobby the health department or any of its agencies for the same amount of time. O'Neil could not immediately be reached for comment. "Your relationships with biomedical companies regulated by HHS will raise concerns about your impartiality in this role," wrote Warren, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee that will vote on advancing O'Neil's nomination for the Senate to confirm. O'Neil is an ally of tech billionaire and erstwhile Trump-backer Peter Thiel and from 2012 to 2019 managed one of his venture capital firms, Mithril Capital Management. While at Mithril, he invested in biotechnology companies, some of which currently seek approvals for products from the Food and Drug Administration. He also served as chief executive of his philanthropic Thiel Foundation and as a managing director at Thiel Capital. O'Neil also advises and serves on the board of ADvantage Therapeutics which is developing an Alzheimer's drug that will require FDA approval. He has agreed to recuse from ADvantage's specific-party matters for one year or two years if he receives a bonus from the company, as required by law. Prior appointees have voluntarily made ethics commitments beyond those required by laws and government regulations, Warren wrote, and so should he. If confirmed, O'Neil would report to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who criticizes industry influence over health agencies, pointing to the "revolving door" of officials going on to work for companies they regulated. Kennedy promised "radical transparency" at the department.
