Yellowknife, NWT – The president of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency is defending the way CanNor operates after a scathing report from the Federal Auditor General.
Patrick Borbey concedes they have some policies and protocols that need fixing.
Among them: handing out funding to groups before applications for money had even been received as well as little tracking of funding to see if Northern programs were even benefitting.
Borbey says changes are coming.
“We welcome the Auditor General’s report and his observations and recommendations. We’ve been working with his office to develop a strong action plan to bring about all the administrative corrections and changes to deal with those recommendations.”
Borbey says before Northerners get too upset about the audit, they must acknowledge the positives.
“Since 2009, over $185,000,000 has been invested in the North in 910 projects and all of this has been done in partnership with the territorial government, industries, small businesses and Aboriginal organizations. We feel we’ve had a really positive impact.”
Borbey says they hope to add three or four employees this year to the current 12 at the CanNor office in Yellowknife.
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