MLAs press Nunavut government on fresh, affordable food

Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes asked questions Oct. 28 about what the territorial government is doing to ensure Nunavut residents get access to safe, affordable food. (FILE PHOTO)

Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak says the GN must continue to advocate for policy and legislation that supports access to nutritious, affordable foods.(PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

Just over a week into the fall sitting of Nunavut’s legislative assembly, MLAs say they’re hungry for information on what the government is doing to ensure healthy, affordable and quality food in the territory’s grocery stores.

Grocery stores in Iqaluit might offer a full selection, but some shoppers have found out later the products they already purchased are well past their expiry or best-before dates.

Last week in the legislature, Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes asked Health Minister Monica Ell if the Government of Nunavut has any responsibility for ensuring fresh foods on Nunavut’s grocery shelves, an issue his constituents have raised before.

“Is there a facet of the Department of Health that actually has the responsibility to make sure that retail stores that seem to be more accountable to their shareholders than their client base are serving fresh food?” Hickes said.

Ell said that’s the responsibility of a federal agency -— the Canada Food Inspection Agency. As far as she’s aware, the agency does “regular checkups” in Nunavut stores, although Ell couldn’t say how often that happens.

Pressed by Hickes in the legislature Oct. 27, Ell elaborated on the agency’s role.

“The Canada Food Inspection Agency only deals with manufacturers and when certain foods need to be expired or have a best-before date,” she said.

“Our environmental health officers are the ones in the communities that actually can go and look at the retail stores and outlets after a concern might have been raised by a community member asking something to be inspected.

Inspections normally happen at water reservoirs, treatment plants or trucks, but Ell said community members can contact the health department if they have concerns about the products sold at grocery stores.

“Once they have that conversation, (inspectors) can go to certain retail outlets or other places to go take a look and investigate,” she said.

But there are only five environmental health officers in the territory — one in Cambridge Bay, one in Rankin Inlet, one in Pangnirtung and two based in Iqaluit — although the positions in Rankin Inlet and Pangnirtung are currently vacant, Ell said.

Hickes added that MLAs are waiting “with bated breath” for the release of the Office of the Auditor General’s performance audit on Nutrition North, the federal program that subsidizes the cost of certain food products in the North.

That report is expected to be released sometime in November.

But Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak isn’t waiting for the federal government to deliver better access to quality, affordable foods, pointing to the GN’s Food Security and Action Plan, a strategy and action plan launched last spring aimed at reducing hunger and malnutrition in the territory.

“The Commissioner of Nunavut stated that it is essential for our government to continue to advocate for policy and legislation that supports access to nutritious foods at affordable prices,” Akoak told the legislature Oct. 27.

Akoak’s concerns are community-based; a pilot study that compared the cost of basket of food items in a number of Nunavut’s communities last year showed Gjoa Haven residents pay the highest food prices in the territory — $255 for a basket of 28 items.

The 2014 Nunavut Food Price Survey shows food prices dropped slightly this year in all but one Nunavut community.

But the latest survey still shows that the average cost of chicken in Nunavut is $16 per kilogram, compared to $7 for the rest of Canada, Akoak pointed out.

Similarly, he said, the average cost of apples in Nunavut is $7 per kilogram, while the rest of Canada pays just $4 per kilogram.

“Can the minister indicate what additional actions her department is taking to advocate for affordable prices for food within Nunavut?” Akoak asked to Jeannie Ugyuk, Nunavut’s minister of Family Services.

The program is still under review, Ugyuk said.

“We now know the food prices because they have been documented properly after the study,” she said. “Now we’re trying to find out what causes the high cost of food.”