Aglukkaq does damage control on food prices

Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq speaks with Hall Beach Mayor Ammie Kipigak during a break in the Baffin mayors Forum in Iqaluit Feb. 15. Aglukkaq defended the new Nutrition North Canada program in the wake of an uproar over high grocery prices in Arctic Bay. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Nunavut’s MP and officials from the Northwest Company went into damage control mode Feb. 15 after photos of expensive food at a Northern store in Arctic Bay caused outrage in the North and awe in the south.

Among the photos were a $13 bag of spaghetti, a $ 29 jar of Cheez Whiz, a $77 bag of breaded chicken and a $38 bottle of cranberry juice.

David Anderson, the manager of major market stores for the Northwest Co., told a meeting of Baffin mayors in Iqaluit that prices on those items went up when the supply shipped last summer by sealift ran out.

“When they reordered the product by air, the new rate kicked in, which resulted in a price increase,” he said.

Anderson said the Northwest Co. will try to ship larger quantities of items that aren’t subsidized by Nutrition North Canada via sealift in an effort to control price increases.

But it will be challenge. Nutrition North Canada subsidizes shipping on a much smaller list of healthy food, such as fruits and vegetables, than the old food mail program.

“There’s approximately 2,700 items that will not eligible under the [new] program,” Anderson said. “This will include things like ice cream, products like Cheez Whiz, spices.”

But he said the Northwest Co. backs Nutrition North and promised Nunavut customers will see a drop in prices of “healthy-living product” when the new program kicks in April 1.

Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut’s MP and the federal health minister, slammed “misinformation that’s out there” for blaming Nutrition North for food price increases, when the program hasn’t started yet.

The Arctic Bay prices shown in the photos “have nothing to do with Nutrition North Canada,” Aglukkaq said.

Complaints about the price of foods not covered by Nutrition North should go directly to retailers, she said.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott, who distributed the photos of Arctic Bay groceries through his email list, said he’ll wait until the new program starts April 1, before he passes judgment.

“If the prices do go down, I’ll be the first to stand up and applaud,” he said.

But Elliott said the remote High Arctic is always going to face high food prices because of the region’s small population and distance from major transportation hubs.

“Naturally prices are going to be higher… but there’s a breaking point and you just wonder where that breaking point is when prices are as high as they are in Arctic Bay,” he said.

Aglukkaq also said the new program will subsidize the shipment of country food, which wasn’t covered by the old food mail program.

“We subsidize shipping cow meat, pork, chicken to our land, but we never subsidized shipping wild polar bear, beluga, caribou to our communities,” she said.

Aglukkaq said the government will ensure retailers pass on their savings to customers.

In the meantime, she urged the mayors to call Nunavut members of the Nutrition North advisory board, which includes former Arviat mayor Elizabeth Copland and Cambridge Bay councillor Wilf Wilcox, if they have questions or concerns about the program.

Aglukkaq said the government will step up efforts to communicate with northerners about how the new program works.

“The federal government needs to be a little bit more aggressive in their communications plan,” Elliott said.

In a technical briefing for reporters Feb. 16, Leo Doyle, the acting director of Nutrition North Canada, said the government has begun to roll out a communications plan for the program.