More food programs could cut poverty, says Iqaluit roundtable

Lucy Burke, centre, sits in on a brain-storming session with Iqalummiut during the South Qikiqtani roundtable on poverty reduction June 23. Burke and others contributed ideas on how to improve healing, education and food security among their fellow Nunavummiut; their ideas will be compiled and presented to at territorial poverty summit held later this year. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

The last of Nunavut’s four regional roundtables on poverty reduction wrapped up in Iqaluit June 24, giving organizers hundreds of ideas to fill out Nunavut’s proposed poverty reduction action plan.

A group of about 30 participants were invited to St. Jude’s parish hall between June 22 and June 24 to hash out their ideas on how to improve healing, education opportunities and food security among their fellow Nunavummiut.

A June 23 discussion on food security showed that people in Iqaluit want to see more community-based meal programs.

“I was extremely food insecure as a child, so I know from experience,” said participant Lucy Burke. “I think young people should have access to school meal programs, like a free breakfast. For me, this was often the only real meal I ate.”

Being “food secure” means having access to affordable, healthy and culturally-relevant foods at all times. That’s a key issue in a territory where a recent study shows that almost three-quarters of Nunavut children aged three to five don’t always have access to those foods.

Several participants said they would like to see hunters and trappers organizations revive a program that saw community freezers stocked with country foods.

That would help distribute country food to people with the most need, said participant Simon Nattaq.

But people should also know how to conserve and cook country foods at home, skills that can be taught by community elders, he said.

And Nattaq reminded Qikiqtani residents about a new subsidy to ship country food to family and friends in other northern communities, under a new agreement between Qikiqtani Inuit Association and First Air.

“All these items will help Inuit,” Nattaq said.

Ideas that stem from this and other recent roundtables in Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet and Pond Inlet will help form the action plan to be drafted by the Nunavut Anti-Poverty Secretariat.

Secretariat director Ed McKenna said the recent roundtables and earlier community discussions have highlighted four or five major themes for tackling poverty.

One of the often-repeated comments is how income support and social housing are failing people across the territory.

That’s no surprise because those are issues common to poverty almost anywhere in Canada, he said.

But there other issues being discussed which show how the basis of Nunavut’s poverty might be unique.

“I’m impressed with the degree to which issues around healing and wellness have been raised,” McKenna said. “It tells you a lot about where the roots of poverty begin in Nunavut.”

Many Nunavimmiut have asked for more community wellness and gathering spaces along with more mental health and support services.

Food security and access to country food is another concern that puts Nunavut apart from other regions of the country, McKenna said.

“In a sense, these differences are quite hopeful because they’ll require a made-in-Nunavut solution,” he said. “This means the answer is in our hands.”

The sum of all the community input will be whittled down into an action plan at a territory-wide summit on poverty planned for this coming November, to be chaired by Premier Eva Aariak and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Cathy Towtongie.

But Nunavut’s poverty reduction action plan is not a government plan and won’t offer broad recommendations, McKenna said.

The action items included in the report will spell out clear strategies that government departments and regional organization have reviewed and will be willing and able to implement, he said.

McKenna says the action items should be implemented right away, then monitored and followed up on through more community consultations.

“I think with an issue like poverty, it’s obviously a complex issue and everyone has a role to play,” he said. “But it’s a long-term project.”

The poverty summit is scheduled to take place Nov. 28 to Nov. 30 at Iqaluit’s cadet hall.