Noah Altonbaire
Noah Altonbaire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of Cayenne | |
| Assumed office September 26, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Ray Powell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 14, 1957 Cole Harbor, Cayenne, Zamastan |
| Political party | BCP |
Noah Altonbaire (born October 14, 1957) is a Zamastanian politician and businessman who has served as the Governor of Cayenne since 2016 as a member of the Blue Conservative Party. He previously served as provincial treasurer under Governor Ray Powell, and in 2018 unsuccesfully ran for President. Before his career in politics, Altonbaire was the CEO of Altonbaire Company, a coal mining business which has been criticized for safety violations and unpaid taxes. He is known for using colorful metaphors and digs at political opponents. As governor, he has proposed raising the province's revenue primarily by increasing the consumer sales tax, reinstituting the business and occupation tax, and establishing a "rich man's" tax. He also opposed plans to cut health and education spending. He has cut environmental regulations and given increased drilling and mining permits to gas and mineral corporations. Altonbaire supports gun ownership and limited gun laws.
Early life and education
Business career
Altonbaire's mining company has been under the spotlight for alleged cases of safety violation and unpaid taxes; in 2016, the Tofino Times called him the "top mine safety delinquent" in the country allegedly owed millions of dollars to the government in back taxes, and unpaid coal mining fees and fines: "His mining companies owe $15 million in six states, including property and minerals taxes, state coal severance and withholding taxes, and federal income, excise and unemployment taxes, as well as mine safety penalties, according to district, provincial and federal records." Two debt-related lawsuits were settled in 2019, and in 2020 mining companies owned by Altonbaire or his family agreed to pay $5 million in delinquent safety fines.