Harper names new boss for CanNor agency

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Dec. 8 that Patrick Borbey, a senior assistant deputy minister at Aborginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, will start work Dec. 19 as president of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

CanNor’s last full-time president, Nicole Jauvin, retired this past summer, but stayed on as an advisor until a successor could be found.

Borbey, who holds an MBA and a bachelor of social science degree from the University of Ottawa, has, since 1997, held a series of senior positions at AANDC, Health Canada, Transport Canada and Foreign Affairs.

CanNor, whose head office is based in Iqaluit, was the subject of a loud political spat this past fall, after an audit revealed the agency, which started up in 2009, lacked most basic financial controls.

The agency then said they’ve developed an action plan to fix the problems.

This past November, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington of the NDP asked the auditor general of Canada to investigate CanNor.

Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, the Tory minister responsible for CanNor, accused Bevington of “playing politics” and said the NDP member was trying to distract attention from his absention from a Commons vote on the long-gun registry.