Valcourt confirms long anticipated Nutrition North tweak

Bernard Valcourt, the AAND minister, said April 1 that from now on, retailers must disclose their profit margins to independent auditors. (FILE PHOTO)

As of April 1, retailers registered under the Nutrition North Canada program must make profit margin information available to auditors, Bernard Valcourt, the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, said April 1 in a news release.

“The Government of Canada remains committed to improving the program to meet its goals as efficiently as possible in a transparent way,” the news release said.

The move comes in the wake of an embarrassing report on Nutrition North that the Auditor General of Canada released in November 2014

The profit-margin disclosure requirement conforms to one of that report’s recommendations, all of which the federal government has said they will implement.

Valcourt also said he has asked the Nutrition North Advisory Board to look at how retailers can provide more information to consumers at the point of sale and report to him by June 1.

At a meeting in Iqaluit this past March 26, members of the advisory board said they’re already working on that issue.

Board members told Iqaluit residents that they want sales receipts to include itemized information about the amount of subsidy applied to each item.

“Such a system will improve the transparency of the program, ultimately benefiting northern consumers and families,” Valcourt said.

In the release, Valcourt claimed that the cost of a revised northern food basket for a family of four dropped by an average of 7.2 per cent, or about $137 per month, between April 2011 and March 2014.

“The program is achieving better results than anticipated in reducing food prices. As of March 2014, the Northern Revised Food Basket is 1.4 per cent lower than March 2013,” the release said.

That occurred despite an overall food price hike of 5.5 per cent over the same period across Canada, Valcourt said, citing data from Statistics Canada.