I don't think they were tracking to the VOR.
I flew in the Canadian "Bush" for many years. Old habits stay with you. I have trouble believing they would not have had the 2 NDB's tuned in to their ADF's to confirm their position. I still do this 30 years later if there are NDB's associated with the runway.
Like many others have said, I believe they were doing an ILS 35 circling for 17.