The centre was having staffing and cash flow problems at the time.

The board contracts the centre to provide patients who travel to the city for medical attention with recovery services before they return to the Keewatin. The 1996 contract cost the board $687,435.

Acting chair Percy Kabloona, who, like the rest of the members, was unaware of the transaction until last week's meeting, said that the board should have been consulted first.

"The CEO should have reported to the board that the contractor was having cash flow problems," he said.

While Kabloona said he is unaware of any other unauthorized decisions made by the CEO, he said the board will look closely at the auditor's report as well as the minutes of the previous meetings.

"We'd like to find out what has been done without the board's approval," he said.

Joe Kaludjak, who was just appointed to the board, said that what happened was not normal operating procedure and he doesn't want to see anything like it happen again.

"I want to make sure the board will include us if a transaction like this occurs again," he said.

Interim executive director Chris Keeley said the advance paid to the centre wasn't entirely unusual, but he admitted the board should have been apprised of the situation.

"Contractor indicated there was a cash-flow problem," he said. "They were forced to finance the contractor when the contract hadn't yet been renewed."

Gloria Penner, director of the Ublivik Inuit Centre, was in meetings and could not be reached for comment.