ITK takes issue with editorial

I would like to respond to your paper’s coverage of the Nutrition North Canada program and ongoing discussions regarding this program with members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

First, I must point out to your readers that I support the program wholeheartedly and believe that it is vital to the lives of Inuit.

My remarks to the Standing Committee emphasized ITK’s concern, based in part on comments we have received from Inuit at the local level, that five months have indeed passed since the program was announced and there is still much work to be done before its full implementation less than five months from now.

There are still many fundamental unknowns. Witnesses appearing before the committee last week, including representatives from small and large retailers, agreed that it is challenging to effectively plan for the full implementation without knowledge of community-specific subsidy rates to be set by INAC or of the reporting requirements retailers registering with the program will be required to meet.

Your editorial incorrectly told readers that Nunavik retailers pay less than half the rate of Nunavut retailers for air cargo shipments of eligible perishable foods. The rates for nutritious perishables under the Food Mail Program are the same in all regions.

The difference you cited was in the rate available for eligible non-perishables and this is a provincial versus territorial difference that was eliminated Oct. 3.

It is essential to inform communities of these changes in meaningful ways and we have a moral obligation to understand how and where food prices on both perishable and non-perishable food staples and other essential items are rising beyond the buying power of low and fixed-income households.

Divisive comments aimed at regional efforts to inform consumers do no credit to the power of your paper to inform public discourse.

Again, I welcome the Nutrition North Canada program and its emphasis on healthy food. At the same time, I encourage the Government of Canada to take the necessary measures to address the challenges of implementing the program.

I also strongly encourage the architects of the program to expand its country food component beyond commercially produced items, to include the support of Inuit sharing systems.

I have made these and other points directly to government as well.

Finally, my interest in appearing before the committee was to advocate for Inuit who could not be there in person to share their own stories. I hope that you will also think of Inuit consumers in your continued coverage of food security issues in Nunavut, Nunavik and elsewhere.

Mary Simon
President
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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