XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, nf.general   
   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   — CP — Jan 7 2015   
      
      
   Nutrition North board filled with Tory donors   
      
      
   OTTAWA - The board that advises the federal cabinet minister in charge of   
   Canada's controversial Nutrition North food subsidy program is almost entirely   
   made up of Conservative donors, public records show.   
      
   Five of the six people appointed to the Nutrition North advisory board have   
   donated money to the Conservatives. One of the five Conservative donors also   
   gave to the Liberals, while a sixth member has not contributed to any party.   
      
   The individual donations range from $20 to $1,200 and span a time frame of   
   February 2007 to July 2014.   
      
   And at least three board members, who get expenses but no salary for their   
   work, appear to be involved with organizations or businesses that have received   
   federal government funding, either directly or indirectly.   
      
   Board chair Wilfred Wilcox is on the board of the Kitikmeot Corp., which along   
   with another firm operates a company called Kitikmeot Caterers — one of the   
   companies involved in the construction of the government's Canadian High Arctic   
   Research Station in the Nunavut community of Cambridge Bay.   
      
   In an email, Wilcox said he is not involved in Kitikmeot's day-to-day business   
   decisions.   
      
   Wilcox also owns a company called Jago Services, which does plumbing, heating   
   and electrical work. Jago Services is a subcontractor to Sanaqatiit   
   Construction Ltd., another of the companies working on the research station.   
      
   Jago got the contract through an open tender process, Wilcox said.   
      
   Elections Canada records show Wilcox — who was appointed to the Nutrition   
   North   
   board in November 2010 and named its chair in May 2012 — donated to the   
   Conservatives in March 2013 and June 2014.   
      
   "I don't have a problem supporting the Conservatives. I believe they are doing   
   a good job and I respect the approach to getting things done," Wilcox wrote.   
      
   "Not everything is easy and a good level of prudence in spending is appropriate   
   and I don't see how making a few donations is wrong."   
      
   Wilcox said he and his wife have known Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the   
   Conservative government's Nunavut MP, for a long time.   
      
   "She is from our area and we are proud to support her through a few donations   
   as we do many other causes and community events."   
      
   The Nutrition North program, a $60-million annual food subsidy intended to help   
   defray the high cost of nutritious food in the North, has been under scrutiny   
   ever since auditor general Michael Ferguson's fall report came out in November.   
      
   In it, Ferguson revealed that the program's overseers are largely in the dark   
   about whether Nutrition North is actually doing anything for the people who   
   need it the most.   
      
   The office of Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who is responsible   
   for the program, did not directly respond to a detailed list of questions, but   
   a spokeswoman did provide a general statement about the donations.   
      
   "These individuals are entitled to freedom of expression and are not banned   
   from donating to political parties," Andrea Richer wrote in an email.   
      
   "The ethical and political activity guidelines for public office holders do not   
   prohibit political activity."   
      
   It casts doubt on the credibility of the board when so many of its members gave   
   money to the Conservatives, said Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, the party's deputy   
   leader.   
      
   "There's been a clear failure to deliver the terms and conditions of this   
   program," he said in a telephone interview, referring to the auditor general's   
   report.   
      
   "That would lead one to be very suspicious that the folks on this board are   
   enjoying a political sinecure and not doing their job."   
      
   The NDP also weighed in.   
      
   "The Harper government is always looking to game the system for the benefit of   
   their pals — even when it comes to a program that is about ensuring that   
   families are able to feed their children," Charlie Angus, the party's ethics   
   critic, said in an emailed statement.   
      
   "Nutrition North has failed and it is unacceptable that Conservative patronage   
   buddies are benefiting at the trough while northern families are doing   
   without."   
      
   Nutrition North board member and Conservative donor Elisabeth Cayen heads up an   
   organization that recently received tens of thousands of dollars from the   
   federal government.   
      
   Last January, Aglukkaq announced the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium in   
   Iqaluit would receive $58,000 for enhancements to a training simulator. Cayen,   
   who is the consortium's executive director, is quoted in a news release dated   
   Jan. 15, 2014, that accompanied the spending announcement.   
      
   She said part of her job at the consortium is to submit proposals for   
   government funding and it is up to the Canadian Northern Economic Development   
   Agency to decide which projects to fund.   
      
   Elections Canada records show Cayen, who was appointed to the Nutrition North   
   advisory board in November 2012, made two separate donations to the federal   
   Conservatives — the first in May 2011 and the second in June 2013.   
      
   Her husband, Greg Cayen, is listed as a director of the Nunavut Conservative   
   Association, which organizes Aglukkaq's electoral ground game.   
      
   His biography on the New Westminster College website says he was once the   
   president of the Nunavut Conservative Electoral District Association. Elections   
   Canada records show he has also been a regular donor to the Conservatives.   
      
   Elisabeth Cayen said she is on the Nutrition North advisory board because of   
   her experience working in the North.   
      
   "With regard to Nutrition North, this is a volunteer board that I sit on with   
   the goal of helping to make nutritious food more affordable in the north," she   
   wrote in an email.   
      
   "I have lived in the North for almost 25 years and would hope that my   
   experience could be helpful in this endeavour."   
      
   Former Northwest Territories premier Nellie Cournoyea, appointed to the   
   Nutrition North advisory board in November 2010, has made three donations to   
   the Conservatives between November 2013 and June 2014, Elections Canada records   
   show.   
      
   Cournoyea also gave money to the Northwest Territories Conservative Association   
   in June and September of 2012. She has also donated to the Yukon Conservative   
   Association.   
      
   Newfoundland MP Scott Andrews, currently sitting as an Independent, wrote to   
   Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson last year about an Aglukkaq fundraiser in   
   Ottawa at which Cournoyea appeared as a special guest.   
      
   Cournoyea is chair and chief executive officer of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp.   
   Andrews pointed out that a sub-entity of the corporation received funding in   
   August 2013 from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, which   
   Aglukkaq heads up. He also said the Inuvialuit Regional Corp., received money   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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