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Don Rusnak comments on alleged misuse of First Nations funding

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP says feds have taken corrective action
Don Rusnak
(Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com).

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services says the federal government is exploring its options to recover misappropriated funds that were intended for Indigenous people.

Don Rusnak, MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River, was responding Monday to a question raised in the House of Commons by an opposition MP.

Charlie Angus, the NDP member for Timmins-James Bay, said allegations of widespread fraud committed against the people of Kashechewan "raises serious questions" about the operating culture in the Minister of Health's office.

Referring to an official of Thunder Bay-based Crupi Consulting Group, Angus said "Joe Crupi is alleged, among other things, to have stolen a million dollars from a breakfast program in a community so poor the kids do not have a school, yet her officials protected his access despite the warning bells from the Attorney General and the RCMP. Now her lawyers are going after Crupi for the money, but that was money stolen from the mouths of children. What steps will she take to make it right for the children of Kashechewan and right for the people of Canada"?

Rusnak is the Parliamentary Secretary to Jane Philpott, formerly Minister of Health but now the Minister of Indigenous Services.

He replied that "It is completely unacceptable when public funds intended for Indigenous peoples are misappropriated. The consulting group in question was involved in a third party agreement with Health Canada and the Kashechewan Health Services board between 2010 and 2015. Once the department was made aware of an RCMP investigation into the consulting group, it conducted an audit of its agreements with the company. The department is now exploring its options to recover the funds that were found to be misappropriated. The department has taken corrective actions to ensure this does not happen again."

According to the National Post, Ottawa is suing Joe and Franco Crupi of the Crupi Consulting Group for allegedly diverting and misappropriating $1.4 million earmarked for Kashechewan health projects.

Last year, the RCMP charged Joe Crupi with fraudulently obtaining for Kashechewan over $1.2 million from the National Child Benefit Reinvestment Program, and with misappropriating almost $700,000 from Kashechewan for his personal use between 2008 and 2012.

Franco Crupi faces no criminal charge.

None of the allegations or charges has been proven in court.




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