Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Patrick Borbey will take over the troubled Canadian Northern Economic Development agency on Dec. 19.

Dennis Bevington, the New Democratic Party member of parliament for the Western Arctic, says Borbey is a good choice because he knows the North well.

“He’s also a competent bureaucrat in order to clear up the financial troubles of that agency which come from an effort by the Conservative government to fast-track development faster than what people in the agency could handle,” said Bevington.

Borbey was the assistant deputy minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, which was previously called the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

It is not clear whether Borbey will work from Ottawa or be relocated to the CanNor headquarters in Iqaluit.

Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq is the minister responsible for the agency. CanNor has been under scrutiny after a recent internal audit.

The audit found CanNor broke almost every rule of good financial management since its creation in 2009. These rules include those which govern expenditure control, contract management and the use of credit cards.

Borbey takes over from Colleen Swords, who was appointed interim president in September. Swords in turn took over from Nicole Jauvin.

Some of the recent controversy also surrounds Jauvin’s position. She retired in the summer and was re-hired by Aglukkaq to temporarily advise the agency at a salary of more than $200,000 a year.