Nunavik speakers dump on Nutrition North scheme

(Updated and corrected Nov. 2)

Recent interim changes to the federal government’s food mail program will jeopardize the food security and the health of Inuit, Nunavik speakers told the House of Commons standing committee on aboriginal and northern affairs Nov. 1.

The committee is looking at the new Nutrition North Canada program, which comes into effect April 1, 2011.

In a transitional measure that kicked in Oct. 3, the federal government has eliminated many non-perishable and non-food items from its subsidy list, on the grounds that such items should be transported on the annual sealift.

But ITK claims that in Nunavik, the increased use of sealift transportation would lead to retailers bringing in food by air that is of lesser quality and freshness.

“We don’t want that. We want fresh produce,” Mary Simon the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told the committee, saying that food prices are already “alarming” in the Arctic.

Under the outgoing food mail program, Nunavik communities received an extra-low food mail air cargo rate of only $1 per kilo, a greater level of subsidy than Nunavut’s rate of $2.25 per kilo.

Most customers were forced to used Nunavik-owned First Air, which has held Canada Post’s eastern Arctic food mail contract for more than 10 years.

But under the Nutrition North Canada program, Arctic retailers and individuals would pay subsidized rates for shipments that they would work out with the airline of their choice.

Those new subsidized perishable food cargo rates, expected to be announced by the end of December, would kick in by April 1, 2011.

Under those new rates, high cost communities would receive a greater subsidy than lower cost communities.

But Simon said the transformation of the food mail program into a direct subsidy to retailers for nutritious food products will “decrease, not increase” affordable food choices for Inuit, Simon said, noting that prices for some items have already risen by up to 40 per cent at Kuujjuaq’s Newviq’vi store.

And consumers in Nunavik’s small communities can’t take their business elsewhere to find better deals, she said.

Nutrition North has to work for the consumers “not just for the retailers,” Simon said.

As for retailers in Nunavik, they don’t have the warehouse space to store all the non-perishable items they need to stock throughout the year.

Price hikes are bound to affect the Inuit diet, which has already been affected by rising fuel costs climate change that has influenced the availability of wildlife, she said.

Many hunters in Nunavik now have to fly by bush plane outside their communities to find caribou to supplement their diet, she said.

If Ottawa wanted to improve access to healthy food, Simon said there should be subsidies to help with the packaging of country food, saying Air Inuit now provides a subsidy for country food cargo.

“We’re trying to figure it out ourselves,” she said, underlining the need for a federal policy to support local food sharing.

Elena Labranche, the deputy director of public health in Nunavik, also condemned the current cost of food as already being “enormous.”

Nunavimmiut may start making poorer food choices if they can’t afford to eat well, she said.

Simon also criticized the way certain non-food products, like disposable diapers, were taken off the preliminary eligibility list.

“One day we just had these signs all over the store,” which announced that there would be no more subsidies, she said.

INAC actually released the preliminary eligibility list, in English and French, about five months ago, on May 21, 2010, following the announcement of Nutrition North Canada at a widely-publicized press conference in Iqaluit.

The food mail program did need revision, Simon admitted, pointing to a lack of transparency that prevented many people from understanding what products were covered.

But Simon said the federal government neeeds to do more consultation and find a better way of setting up list of eligible products.

“There’s a real gap that’s happening because the people in the communities are ending up paying the extra dollars that they don’t have,” Simon said.

Witnesses, who also included First Nations from Yukon and northern Ontario, asked for more flexibility and better communication.

They also criticized the lack of community consultation on how the Nutrition North Canada program will be administered and what items will be included in the program.

“Work with us and work in consultation with us,” Simon said.

More education will also be included in the new program, Nunavik speakers learned — but a nutritionist from Nunavik’s regional health board said this education needs to be backed up by activities and local community workers.

“Who will do the education?” asked Marie-Josée Gauthier.