Why did a good onion end up at the dump in the first place?

MARY SIMON

It is true that during the years when Inuit were treated as second class citizens and being forced into communities, or worse, relocated far from their regions and their homes, extreme hunger was experienced on a regular basis.

So for those that were close enough to military or community dump sites, Inuit did scrounge for food or they would continue to suffer from starvation.

Scrounging in dumps is not part of Inuit culture. It’s part of that whole era when Inuit were treated like objects that could be moved around with no thought given to how they were going to survive.

Just a little history lesson here. Inuit were nomadic people. Living and moving with the seasons and the animals that they depended on for their livelihood — in one of the harshest environments on the planet.

When we were ‘encouraged’ to settle into villages we still depended on our nomadic way of life and could still survive off the land until colonization took its hold on our people.

People became dependent on handouts. Those handouts were hardly enough to survive on, and coupled with the extreme changes that were imposed on Inuit, people had to resort to things like scrounging in dumps for food to survive.

Let’s remember this was in the 1940s, 50s 60s, 70s. I’m not sure when the first subsidy, called the food mail program, was introduced by the federal government. Until then, there was no support, so people had to fend for themselves.

Now let’s fast forward to 2014.

Why are the stores throwing away good food? Let’s remember that the Nutrition North Canada food subsidy program is supposed to reduce the prices of food items in stores so that people can afford to buy food.

Why do the northern stores throw away good food that should be reduced to the point where people can afford to buy them in the store even before the expiry date comes into play?

As well, why don’t they put out fresh produce at a very reduced rate when they are becoming over-ripe like they do in grocery stores down here in the South?

Of course, if these stores are going to throw good food away, why would people not go to the dump and pick it up? It makes more sense for the stores to reduce prices so people can buy it.

Scrounging for food is not a tradition or part of our culture. It was a necessary thing to do to survive in the elements during those periods when colonization was in full force.

Now, to make a point about scrounging for other things in the dump.

As most of us know, most of our communities do not have the services and amenities that we take for granted in the south. Big companies and governments throw away lumber and other wood products. As well people throw away old machinery such as broken down snowmobiles or four-wheelers.

Now, in this situation, it seems only fair that on certain days when you need lumber or a piece for your machine, one might take a run to the dump and see if there is anything worth taking. In fact a dump in my region of Nunavik has long been nicknamed “Canadian Tire.”

To be fair I would assume that it would not be uncommon, necessarily, for people to go and take a look at the dump to see if there is anything worthwhile to pick up.

Everything up here in the Arctic is pretty sparse and you can not just go to the store and buy things that you need. That is why people are not ashamed to say that they go to the dump to see if they can pick up something useful and worthwhile.

In 2014, after all the legal and political efforts Inuit have put in, that has now resulted in providing much needed incentives and infrastructure support.

For instance, with the settlement of all our land claims agreements, plus industrial development, new territorial governments, the availability of welfare, and other social programs for those who are not working, people should be able to make ends meet.

Therefore with the new Nutrition North Canada program, which is supposed to solve the problems of exorbitant food costs in the Arctic, there is no reason that people should have to depend on going to the dump to find food.

The federal government should be working with Inuit organizations and representatives of the communities to work out how the Nutrition North Canada program will successfully be implemented to provide support for families.

The final point is this — let’s stop denying that there are many people who are hungry with nothing to eat and agree to fix the problem now by working together.

It is an opportunity that should not be bypassed by the federal government, especially in light of the fact that they have said they are investing more money into the program.

Let’s make sure the money goes into the right pockets.

Mary Simon has served as president at the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Makivik Corp., the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and as Canada’s first Arctic ambassador.