Jagmeet Singh calls for Nutrition North ‘overhaul’ during Iqaluit visit
NDP leader to hold public meet-and-greet with MP Lori Idlout on Saturday
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, left, speaks to reporters alongside Nunavut MP Lori Idlout during a visit to Iqaluit Friday. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
In Iqaluit on Friday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for an overhaul of Nutrition North, saying that grocery stores are pocketing the benefits.
Singh is in the Nunavut capital for the first time since 2021, joining New Democrat MP Lori Idlout for a visit to the community. He’s accompanied by his wife, Gurkiran Kaur, and their one-year-old daughter.
At a news conference, Singh said Nutrition North — a federal subsidy that cuts the prices of healthy food in the North — is broken because customers are not seeing prices drop.
“The financial support goes to the retailer, goes to the grocery store, the grocery store then is trusted to somehow bring down prices and they’re not doing it,” Singh said.
“The cost is so high and Nutrition North doesn’t actually make it to the families, doesn’t make it to the people who need it.”
In an interview, Singh didn’t say exactly what a new Nutrition North might look like.
He said the program, as it is, was not designed with consumers in mind.
“This idea that giving [subsidies] to the retailer, I think is just off the table,” Singh said.
“I think you’ve got to make sure we understand what people need, where the gaps are …, where the costs are way too high and then design a program that actually gets to the people that need it.”
Singh’s NDP holds the fourth-highest number of seats in the House of Commons, but it’s in a special agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government that will keep the Liberals in power until the next election in 2025.
In exchange, the Liberals agreed to legislate some of the NDP’s priorities, especially on dental and prescription drug policies.
Singh said this arrangement has benefited Nunavummiut.
Giving a lot of praise to Idlout as well, Singh took some of the credit for securing $214 million to fix Iqaluit’s water system in April 2022.
“We forced the investment in the water infrastructure for Iqaluit,” Singh said.
In January 2022, weeks after Iqaluit’s tainted water emergency, the NDP called for the federal government to pump $180 million into fixing the city’s water infrastructure.
Singh also said a “grocery rebate” — or GST credit — that was included in the most recent federal budget would not have happened if not for NDP advocacy.
Idlout also touted the NDP’s role in that budget line at the time, but said it would have a minimal impact on people in the North.
“Every single thing that has come out of this government recently is because New Democrats forced them,” Singh said.
“We are going to force this government to deliver dedicated funding directly to Nunavut: $500 million to make sure there’s a dedicated fund to build 3,000 homes by 2030.”
Looking forward, Singh said his party is working to pass legislation aimed at addressing a number of issues including corporate monopolies and airline passengers’ right.
But this weekend, Singh said he’s looking forward to continuing his tour of Iqaluit.
Before speaking to reporters, Singh met with Premier P.J. Akeeagok and MLAs to hear about Nunavut’s priorities. He’s also set to meet with union groups and enjoy some time with his family.
This weekend, the local NDP riding association is expected to nominate Idlout as the party’s candidate for re-election. That meeting is slated for Saturday evening at the Franco Centre.
As part of that event, Singh and Idlout will host a meet-and-greet, open to the public, starting at 6 p.m.
“What I want to take away is, I want to know the stories of the people of the North so I can take those stories back to Ottawa,” he said.
Sure! Then stop supporting Liberals belly button ring.
How some people forget it was the Cons who replaced the food mail program because it was too expensive with their great idea that’s was supposed to be better and cheaper than the food mail program.
How did that one go?
Nutrition North is a revenue stream for the grocery stores.
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Most of the “rebate” goes to milk. The low price for milk serves as a cross subsidy for boxes of sugar cereal. The grocery stores recover the milk “rebate” from the high prices they charge for the sugar cereals.
Stop buying sugar cereals. Glad to hear it is being disincenrivized.
Singh knows nothing about the Nutrition North programme. It has brought down the price of nutritious perishable food, and retailers’ pricings are closely monitored by the federal government which funds the programme.
Singh is playing the same song all across the land. This is what the NDP is about, balancing power between the bourgeoisie and the working class.
I’m concerned he might be equally clueless on those issues Though I suppose he will never get elected. Though, one never knows 😆
I don’t always agree with Kenn but he’s right on this one. As much as people love to bellyache and whine, the nutrition North program has substantially brought down the cost of nutritious perishable food. It’s a a point where the costs of those foods are almost the same as down south. A lot of government programs stink in Nunavut but that isn’t one of them.
I don’t always agree with Kenn but when I do, I agree. Time to bring back Food Mail and pass the subsidy on to the airline. The fat cats of the retail industry shouldn’t be taking that money away from being passed on to the Inuit owned airline.
Ya but give Canadian North more money
Thanks just the same, Jagmeet. Your platitudes are in line with the pedantic dogma that Lori spouts; therefore …
I’ve studied the Nutrition North program assiduously. The subsidies are very heavily weighted to food; not confection. Prices for fresh produce, protein and fats (including eggs and dairy) are comparable to those in any town in the South. Even much canned and frozen ‘food’ prices are comparable.
Boxed cereal doesn’t count as food. By most measures it is confection. So are juice, frozen fries, coffee,,,,
Check it out for yourself!
Presumably you’re talking about Iqaluit because that’s certainly not the case here in the west.
Prices outside of Milk and eggs are not remotely inline with what you would pay in the south. Meat, outside of ground meat is nearly 3x, fruit is easily 3x southern prices. Bread is 2x, vegetables 2-3x depending on what product. Canned goods are 2-3x.
While I realize there’s less flights compared to the capital there’s also significantly less economic activity as well. The result, rampant unemployment, prices vastly higher than southern prices and Iqaluit resulting in malnutrition and teachers or other people in town trying to find to help feed kids on a daily basis.
Even those on higher income a feeling the pressure, some noting that times up for them, it’s become too expensive.
I’m sure it’s not that much different in the Kiv or North Baffin either. I doubt they would say their prices are remotely in line with southern prices.
There’s a lot more to Nunavut than Iqaluit which I think is often forgotten.
Thanks ‘Ydsfe’ but it ain’t so just cuz you say it is. Small town southern store prices for food are barely cheaper tjan the North, which is why it is so important to help people lrarn about food choices, how to buy them, and how to prepare and serve food. Other problems – poverty, illiteracy, addiction, hopelessness much also be addressed, but not in this post
Cheap beef (chuck) $18. Kg; close to $22 average in Nunavut
Better beef (inside round) $26 there; $28 average in NU
Apples range from $6 to $12 for a 1.4 kg bag in the South; same price in the North. Please compare more accurately so people can find solutions to problems
All you have to do is look at all the published food studies across all Nunavut Communities. They’re readily available. The conclusion from the most recent was 2.2 – 3x national food prices depending on category.
Past studies but still recent such as the 2016 was also 3x national average on prices.
You spouting off random prices of beef and apples with no study to back it up like you’re a Northern Manager trying to defend absurde pricing isn’t doing anything, come over to kugluktuk to Cam Bay and pay 50 dollars for five fresh chicken breasts.
There’s endless statistics available online, the site just won’t let me add links to the post due to the long HTML address but it’s readily available if you just google it.
You need to venture to other communities if you think they remotely reflect southern prices and you need your anecdotal evidence as confirmation.
And perhaps you should compare prices locally . I have been buying a pack of four chicken legs for $12 at the coop.
Check Amazon for a tub of Crisco ( a northern staple) $36 compared to our Kugluktuk price of $18.
Chicken and pork along with country food is the way to go
Now the quality of fresh fruit leaves a lot to be desired for me. Those brown bananas and that funny-looking gray/green stuff in the bottom of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries packaging the day its put out ie well not conducive tp spreading on pancakes.
You do have to shop around
S is spouting off again about things he doesn’t know about. Take the quick flight from the Northern Store in CamBay to the Independent in Yellowknife. In Yellowknife you’re paying less than half for produce, fresh meat, etc.
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Or maybe you can catch a flight to one of the smaller Kitikmeot communities and pay $90 for a watermelon?
Thanks “Just Stop – You Don’t Know. BUT, why are you, “Wildly incorrect”, Lori, and Jagmeet relying on anecdotal evidence and “past studies”?
Do your own study. Gather reliable information, compare accurately, use ONLY food items. Saying or doing anything else is akin to biting off your nose to spite your face. Compare apples to apples.
If GST is added to a product, don’t include it in your study. Compare exact cuts, quality, and quantity of meat. Saying “pay 50 dollars for five fresh chicken breasts” is meaningless, at best, and discredits you completely. Why would anyone count watermelon in such a study? The shipping cost to food value ratio isn’t reasonable, even for the least reasonable analysis.
You can both do better – if you want to be part of improvement for yourself and your fellows.
Well there it is. Why would any on rely on recent studies after all that show category by category the cost differences based on prices gathered from all 25 communities.
I guess what we should be doing is using your comment as our basis because you dont agree.
Are you being serious? I can recite anecdotal evidence if you would like. I live in Cam Bay. You want photos of the prices? What’s going to satisfy you if recent studies with numbers from every community dont.
You’re clearly just wrong but won’t accept it. Luckily I think the average person in Nunavut is well aware of the price differential.
Thanks for your comment ‘wayta’. I’m impressed and disappointed by uour persistence but it’s dogmatic in a sense. IF you are interested to help improve nutrition matters, including food costs, you’ll drop your reliance on studies or learn better how to use them. Gor starters: look ONLY at FOOD; be precise in your comparisons of products and quantities; understand weight / volume to nutrition ratios; be aware of exceptional items. The trick to do a proper study is to do it with the intention of trying to prove that your own hypothesis is wrong! If you take any other approach you are just doing what politicians and religious types do
About $10 for a watermelon at the northern in Kugluktuk. Does this count as a smaller kitikmeot community?
That’s an interesting comment, ‘982; makes one wonder about why people think the way they do.
“Why would anyone count watermelon in such a study? The shipping cost to food value ratio isn’t reasonable, even for the least reasonable analysis.
You can [and should] … do better – if you want to be part of improvement for yourself and your fellows.”
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Watermelon should be counted because it is a nutritious food that qualifies for NN and NN is based on the weight of the food. Isn’t that the purpose of NN? You want to cherry-pick which foods to compare?
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How about $11.99 for a 3 pack of bell peppers in Cambridge Bay vs $4.99 for a 7 pack of bell peppers in Yellowknife? Is that food? Is that specific enough?
Thanks, ‘Just Stahp’; to your comment:
“How about $11.99 for a 3 pack of bell peppers in Cambridge Bay vs $4.99 for a 7 pack of bell peppers in Yellowknife? Is that food? Is that specific enough?”
OF COURSE, that is NOT specific enough! It’s just the kind of comment that indicates a lack of good intent and a deficiency in analysis.
If you want to be helpful to our fellow Nunavimmiut, change your approach. Compare peppers to peppers; compare regular price to regular price; look for the big picture and the details; use a null hypothesis. Anything less is either ideology, idiocy, or ill-will. Be credible and you will get credibility.
Here’s an interesting comment,
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The Temp-Controlled rate on Canadian North cargo is $5.47/kg from Ottawa to Iqaluit.
The Temp-Controlled rate on Canadian North cargo is $12.28/kg from Yellowknife to Kugaaruk.
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Now here’s the question for you: Are the NN subsidies different for those routes? Because if not (here’s a hint: They’re not), then people in Kugaaruk will be paying almost $7/kg more than those in Iqaluit no matter which food they’re buying. For a family of 4, for meat alone, that’s about $3400 per year. Then do fruit, veg, and other food items. But you’re perfectly happy with NN, so leave it alone, right?
Thanks, “RMeT”. NN subsidies are based on a per kilogram reduction in the price of goods with rates set BY community. To your comment / question:
“The Temp-Controlled rate on Canadian North cargo is $5.47/kg from Ottawa to Iqaluit… [and] is $12.28/kg from Yellowknife to Kugaaruk. … Are the NN subsidies different for those routes? Because if not (here’s a hint: They’re not)”
For example, under your scenario, the subsidy for high-food content items shipped to Iqaluit is $3.75 / kg; $6.15 / kg for Kuggaark. There’s a similar variance for surface-transported food items ($1.70 and $2.25 for those communities)
When the retailers have built an entire industry of businesses from farm/factory to box to truck to hangar to plane to truck to shelf, is it any wonder why nutrition north can be easily be manipulated? They only audit whether the price is passed on at the register, not the gouging that happens in the chain that the retailers control. This can all be regulated and may as well be.
So this guy is calling for more support for food…etc from the government he supports? get them these fools out of power now Nunavutmuit!!
NN mainly benefits southerners. The subsidized foods are not foods that you see inuit buying. NN doesnt need an overhaul, the buying habits of many Inuit (especially low income) needs an overhaul. Seems to be lot of expensive processed ready-to-eat food and pops with little nutritional value.
It says the NN has a harvesters program. As well I see lots of “northerners” buying baby formula, milk and produce. I am pretty sure it doesn’t even apply to pop…
Scrap the carbon tax along with JT.
Also scrap the carbon tax and kick Trudeau out!!
He should of went shopping and bring it home
LOL get some $30 grapes and $20 Klik, we one of those Black flags they have around Canada for Trudeau made for, Him and NDP. 😉
Too many to post as high cost is going out of control rents trying to buy a house is out of the picture for real Nunavutmuit,
Utilities are off the grid to afford as the governments cannot explain this to public as well with boards,
Federal government includes Carbon tax witch Nunavutmuit have the least carbon foot prints by air and sea and we take the hit look at the live tracking of high carbon users, Remove the carbon tax for Nunavutmuit,
Banks interest rates doubled as well and watch the insurance will go possibly 25% or more due to wild fires across Canada and have Nunavutmuit take a hard hit,
Food cost in some items are priced out of wicked and yes the stores are stealing and have been for years and will do always.
Eyes and Ears
What, pray tell, is a ‘real Nunavutmiut’?
While I have a long respect for individuals who work to plan for the expenditure of or Tax Dollars I must admit that accusing merchants from profiting from the Food Transportation assistance is getting quite long in the tooth.
Please ask for some evidence before shooting off about so called ” beliefs” . Comments leading to stories like this are based on the absence of any true knowledge and realities of actual costs.
There is evidence of how retailers are not passing on the full extent of the Nutrition North program to purchasers.
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https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/main-news/grocers-fail-pass-along-full-nutrition-north-food-subsidy-shoppers-study-shows
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I first read about this in either NN or on CBC North, I forget where.
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“For every one dollar in subsidy that the large retail companies received through the Nutrition North Canada program, the average price for the consumer has gone down by only 67 cents, says study co-author Tracey Galloway, an associate professor in U of T Mississauga’s department of anthropology.
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So where did the other 33 cents on every dollar go? “It went to the retailers who received it,” Galloway says. “How they use those additional funds is not captured in any metric that’s made available to us.”
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Wherever the extra money ended up, it didn’t go to consumers, she says.”
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This study would suggest that the Northwest company alone is pocketing just under $20,000,000.00 of taxpayer money without passing it down to us as consumers in any way. (I may have done my math wrong for 33 cents on the dollar of $60,000,000.00 which goes to the NWC via Nutrition North)
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Either way 33 cents of every subsidised dollar seems to be going straight to the pockets of retailers rather than pass down to us as intended and this is a substantial amount, and this should be rectified.
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Just because you weren’t aware of such studies and flaws in the Nutrition North program, doesn’t mean others were not and that legitimate criticism of the NNC program are “based on the absence of any true knowledge and realities of actual costs.”
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Very ironic to see someone criticizing those they disagree with for being unaware of facts, when in this instance you were doing the exact thing you are trying to call out.
That is the problem; we believe anything, what we need is printed, itemized cost of 10 kg flour land t and say sugar with same weight o say to Igloolik from FOB in QUE or ON with profit margin to the retailer, then we can believe. Print it Burt.
Thanks to the working hard inuk. Those who are walled off, Nunavut Inuit is close to Mexico, it’s third world country that uses its people to gain their investments.
look at theses liberals in orange, lets vote out these useless props next election, ill never vote for a canditate that gets picked by a coin flip
There’s a starkey bare cupboard limited choice of parties/candidates to pick from. the one thing to note is how the war lobby influence has politicians at their beckon. Think Green and independent when voting. The no fear neocon nuclear lot has us sitting nearer to the midnight hour on the big clock. Not good. Liberals and Conservatives are the worst of possible candidates/parties. Look at the weak response on the Gaza hospital strike, blame not on the oppressors but the oppressed, shame on Ottawa.
yes lets vote on a minority party and get nothing done again, just what nunavut needs
If he kicks out the Liberals now I would consider voting NPD. The longer he holds off on an election less likely I will vote for him.
I was kidding…..never vote for the NDP, they are prolonging our pain and suffering under the fascist Liberal regime.
All prices in general should be looked at, I just spend $140.00 on a case of windshield fluid at Arviat local hardware store, 4 at 2 liters each. How much would that be in Thompson, MB were ARV stores frt their merchandises? WPG to Thompson is 60 cents per/kilo.
Are you drinking windshield fluid??!
Yes I am Tony, can’t afford pop prices anymore so I am going into a real heavy stuff, it deaden that broke feeling when hunger strikes and so often now. Try drinking it, works….but I have a felling your a retailer or dealer of something, so sarcastic.
You don’t seem to understand the NN program applies to food deemed nutritious.
Non food items like windshield fluid do not apply here.
And Tony, you don’t seem to understand the poorest of the poor in Nunavut. There is a real hunger and real want the policy makers and retail thugs don’t understand and will not because of ppl like you.
With the financial fix being in (with money being produced from thin air in the banking system) as it is and with goods and services being pegged to a dollar price a way around the ballooning cost of living and with it the sharply falling standards of living, alternate means of getting by are/should be welcome. The ancient bartering system is an option to consider. If you have some thing or some service that I could use and benefit from and I have an alternate lets make a deal. Another thing that we are not familiar with in Canada is negotiating a price. When one travels outside the country it is a commonly found practice to negotiate prices, it is accepted and honored by both sellers and buyers. An extra is It brings with it social interaction/community well being.
the subsidy was enough for Northern Stores to purchase and operate their own cargo operations.
They can do that someone, (buy their own planes and their own cargo ships if they want too) they have been stealing openly since 1700s, they know what they’re doing, they are good (better?) as Rome pickpockets. Just check your fingers to see if they’re all there after shaking hands with their managers ppl, lol.
Remember the food mail program? It brought food with southern prices to Nunavut, the Conservatives came a long cutting all kinds of programs and when they say how this food mail program helped lower the cost of food and made the norther stores and coops lower their prices to try and compete the Cons decided the food mail program was too expensive and came up with this nutrition north program which has become much more expensive and narrowed the selection of goods is can be used for a the while putting the controls onto the stores to pass on the savings.
The food mail program had its flaws but it could have been adjusted and improved.
We are still living with the decade of Cons power today, we still need to change what the cons have down.
It was supposed to be better than the food mail program, but all it did was increase the goods for the retailers so it would look like they used the subsidy on the groceries listed under this subsidy and they passed it on, the savings.
Just made the companies like Northwest company and ACL richer.
How it all started. Our MP at the time supported this Nutrition North.
https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2011/03/nutrition-north-canada.html
It actually made it more expensive for the communities up here.