Quassa repays more than $35,000
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Dec 11/00) - Apologetic for the turmoil caused by his month-long suspension, Paul Quassa is back at the helm of NTI.
Quassa returned as president to his second-floor office at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Dec. 4 after giving NTI a cheque for $25,528.31 on Nov. 30.
In mid-November he paid $8,000 toward the more than $35,000 he owed the birthright corporation due to spending irregularities. He had until Jan. 31, 2001 to repay the money in order to regain his presidency.
An additional $3,498.80 in pre-approved expenses will be recovered through salary deductions.
When asked if it was difficult to raise the money quickly, Quassa said his family helped him.
"I am not the only Quassa in the world. I have relatives. It is the Inuit traditional way that when one is in need of help ... the family is there," he said.
"That is why I always said I was confident that I would pay back the money and be back (at work) before the deadline, I knew (my family) would help."
Quassa admitted that his very public month-long suspension over his personal expenses at NTI caused internal strife among the members and staff.
"Of course, this sort of ordeal always puts stress on an organization. One of the first priorities I have is to meet with all of the staff members and apologize for the inconveniences they had to go through because of me," he said, adding that no one lost their job because of the incident.
"I do recognize that it all could have been avoided if I did the paperwork that was necessary."
The paperwork Quassa is referring to is his failure to file corporate credit card and petty cash receipts and travel expenses that added up to more than $35,000.
The discrepancy was discovered by NTI's finance department in late October. The board of directors suspended Quassa with pay Oct. 31.
The suspension was extended Nov. 18, this time without pay. At NTI's annual general meeting, the membership agreed to allow Quassa to pay back the money and keep his job as president.
House in order
The incident called NTI's accounting practices into question, but first vice-president James Eetoolook says everything is fine.
"NTI systems are working as they should. We have confidence in our financial systems," said Eetoolook. "The bylaws, policies and reporting procedures under which Paul Quassa was called to account are evidence of that."
"We welcome (Quassa) back."
Now that he's back on the job, Quassa says he has to rebuild his relationship with the executive members.
"I will be getting together with the executive members to ensure that we have that trust between us again because we need to have trust in order to fulfil our responsibilities," he said.
"I want them to know that for the next two years of my term I will be there for them."
The same goes for the beneficiaries, he said.
"I received incredible support from beneficiaries during the ordeal, I know it was difficult for them, but their support showed me I had to keep on."
Amid all of the apologies, Quassa says his first orders of business is to review the resolutions passed at the AGM and to address the fast approaching gun legislation deadline of Jan. 1, 2001.
"The year end is coming very quickly and the gun legislation is something we won't stall on," he said.
NTI has started legal action against the federal government to try and prevent Nunavut from being included in the legislation, but the case isn't expected to be heard until the spring or summer of 2001.
