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Nunavut MP Lori Idlout has let go of power over a private business that has won several government contracts over the years after she said she came under pressure to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Idlout has a financial stake in NVision Insight Group Inc., an Ottawa-based Indigenous management consulting firm, which has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in sole-sourced contracts from the federal government since 2021 \u2014 also the year Idlout was elected to Parliament. <\/p>\n
In December 2022 Idlout informed her staff not to seek any training offered by NVision because she holds “a significant ownership interest” in the company, according to Parliament’s Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. <\/p>\n
On July 16, Idlout put her interest into a trust. <\/p>\n
MPs cannot knowingly be a party to any government contracts that would benefit them financially. They also cannot derive any income from the trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Idlout said she created the trust voluntarily earlier this month and was not ordered to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something that I chose to do because of the scrutiny that I was receiving from certain other parties,\u201d she said while answering reporters’ questions at a housing-related news conference<\/a> Tuesday. It\u2019s not clear what parties Idlout felt pressure from.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason that I created the trust agreement is so that I could separate myself from what’s going on with NVision,\u201d she said. \u201cAs an elected MP I\u2019m never allowed to be involved in any federal contracts and that\u2019s implementing that obligation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Idlout came under scrutiny earlier this year for buying items from her own gallery and expensing it to the government.\u00a0<\/p>\n