CanNor money is available to support local food systems, says Yukon MP

Five Nunavut communities will see improvements this year to the freezers used by hunters, thanks to $2 million that’s been spent by the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, or CanNor.

Baker Lake, Sanirajak and Kimmirut will get new community freezers. In Iqaluit, a food preparation area will be added to the community freezer, and Kugluktuk will see renovations done to its freezer. In addition, a way for communities to trade country foods has received money, and funding has been provided to further develop an inshore fishing industry.

The money was allocated in the previous fiscal year, and announced by CanNor last week.

In total, CanNor spent almost $4.6 million in the three territories, on 13 projects that support community food systems.

“COVID-19 emphasizes it’s very good we’re doing this,” said Larry Bagnell, Yukon’s member of Parliament, and the parliamentary secretary to the minister responsible for CanNor, Melanie Joly.

“It emphasizes the importance of local foods.”

An information package accompanying the announcement said the money is meant to help create jobs and increase food production.

All of the spending in Nunavut is on projects or systems that already exist.

In the case of Baker Lake, its current freezer was installed years ago, according to the hamlet’s senior administrative officer, Sheldon Dorey. It broke down in mid-July, and is supposed to be fixed this week. The new freezer, paid for with CanNor money, is supposed to arrive by sealift before winter. Dorey said the hamlet had to apply for the CanNor funding to buy the freezer.

A food preparation area will be added to Iqaluit’s community freezer, and renovations will be done on Kugluktuk’s.

Along with the money from CanNor, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which is a federal, provincial and territorial initiative to strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector, invested $526,556 into building the community freezers. The Government of Nunavut has put $873,444 towards the project.

CanNor is also spending $752,800 on a food-sharing system, called an “inter-community trade system” by the federal government.

The GN put $188,200 into this project, which will be a web-based country food system in Baker Lake, Arviat, Qikiqtarjuaq, Pond Inlet and Kimmirut.

“So that when one community has a supply, it can be organized so that it goes to more than one community, so they can share country foods,” is how Bagnell described this project.

The third project that CanNor announced funding for is to help develop inshore fisheries on Baffin Island. CanNor invested $272,000, the GN, $160,000, and Baffin Fisheries, $51,000.

The idea is to further develop an inshore industry of turbot and char fishing in Nunavut, and develop commercial fishing operations in Pond Inlet, Clyde River and Kimmirut.

These are all two-year projects in their second year, on track to be completed, said Naomi Sharpe, a communications person with CanNor, in an email.

Although the money was allocated before the pandemic, in its news release announcing the funding the federal government cites COVID-19 as being the impetus behind the investments into bolstering local food systems.

“As COVID-19 causes serious disruptions to supply chains, this investment will help businesses mitigate and address these challenges,” the news release said.

Bagnell said he didn’t have any additional plans to share about how local food systems in Nunavut might be strengthened.

He did say that ideas have to come from Nunavummiut, and that there is CanNor money available if people want to apply for it. “They know they’ll have a good ear from our government,” Bagnell said.

He also mentioned the Indigenous and Northern Affairs initiative that’s part of Nutrition North, the Harvesters Support grant, as a way the federal government is supporting hunters in Nunavut.

This initiative was announced in 2018, and funding for it was announced at the end of July. However, there is no word on when the $14.8 million over five years for Nunavut hunters will be distributed.

Bagnell said he doesn’t know when that will happen, but he said, “I will be checking with my colleagues to make sure that’s proceeding as it should.”