Makivik head defends executive bonuses from First Air

The president of Quebec Inuit organization Makivik Corp. says he's done nothing wrong by accepting a $600,000 bonus from First Air, although Inuit are expressing outrage over the executive's extra payment.

First Air, which offers passenger and cargo flights to and within Canada's North, is owned by Makivik, the Kuujjuaq, Que.-based organization responsible for administering the Inuit land claim in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec.

A total of $1.5 million from the airline's profits was recently given to members of Makivik's executive and board of directors, president Pita Aatami told CBC News.

Included in the bonuses was $600,000 for Aatami himself,who chairs the airline's board of directors.

"This is a normal practice that's in the airline business or other business, that once a company makes money normally there's bonuses given out," Aatami said Monday.

Aatami said the bonuses, which were revealed at a Makivik board meeting last week, are meant to thank peopleat Makivik.

But callers to a radio phone-in program throughout Nunavik Monday said they were shocked to hear of elected Makivik officials accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Inuk-owned company.

With Inuit struggling to pay for airfare and cargo, many said it hurts to see that money being given away to executives who already make good salaries.

One caller, Lucy Carrier of Kangirsuk, Que., suggested that an independent lawyer should be hired to review the legality of the recent bonuses.

After that, she said, it should be up to the Inuit of Nunavik to decide what happens to First Air's profits.