Curley fears interference on subsidies

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley warns that $1 million in territorial business subsidies are exposed to political interference by a cabinet minister, now that the government of Nunavut has cut ties with a regional group that used to hand out money on their behalf.

The GN’s department of economic development and transportation took back two business subsidy programs from the Kivalliq Partners in Development late last month.

GN officials say they ended their contract with the Inuit economic development group, partly because the region’s mayors were complaining government money was being distributed “inconsistently.”

Curley claims the accusations aren’t true, and in fact, the mayors were out of line in protesting against Kivalliq Partners.

“The projects that were not approved did not qualify under the program,” Curley said in a recent interview from his office in Rankin Inlet. “That’s all there is to it. They did not meet the guidelines. But it was easier to blame the regional group.”

Curley wants the government to hand program administration back to Kivalliq Partners, to ensure the process is open to community scrutiny.

“It’s going to be the minister now, who signs off on the applications,” Curley said. “There’s going to be more political interference now. The minister wanted it in his hands so he can go ahead and approve, whether they qualify or not.”

Government representatives say Curley’s accusations are unfounded.

“I’m not concerned about that [political interference] at all,” said David Simailak, who until last week was the GN’s minister for economic development. “There are very strict guidelines and criteria that have been set up for the administration of those two programs.

“Those criteria will be followed.”

The Community Initiatives Program (CIP) and Contributions to Business Development Program (CBDP) will bring more than $1 million in subsidies to business, training and infrastructure projects in the Kivalliq region, this fiscal year.

For years, Kivalliq Partners acted as the conduit between the GN and its clients in the region.

A board of eight members sifted through business applications and were expected to choose successful projects based on the program’s guidelines.

The board was made of seven members recommended by seven communities in the region, and approved by the Kivalliq Inuit Association. They met with a GN representative, who had a veto over the board’s decisions.

Simailak said the department took over administration of the two programs in order to be consistent across Nunavut. The programs have always been administered by the GN for the Kitikmeot and Baffin regions.

A committee of deputy ministers recently drafted a new policy to make all business programs more efficient in Nunavut. The committee involved the departments of justice, executive and inter-governmental affairs, and economic development and transportation.

The so-called “Removing Barriers to Business” initiative is expected to make it easier to apply for money from the government, or set up a business in Nunavut.

“We want the business community in Nunavut to grow,” Simailak said. “And we want to be there as a department to do whatever we can to help it grow.”

Simailak said the department would complete their program review “as soon as possible.”