MPs reject NDP motion to reform Nutrition North
In House of Commons on Wednesday, 286 members vote against motion and 26 support it
From left, Angella MacEwen, senior economist for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout speak outside the House of Commons on June 4. (Screenshot courtesy of CPAC)
A federal NDP call to reform the Nutrition North program and force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the prices on essential food, was defeated Wednesday in the House of Commons.
The vote was 286 opposed and only 26 in favour of the NDP’s motion. Twenty-four of the NDP’s 25 members voted for it, along with two Green Party MPs.
“We are going to force corporate grocery stores to lower their prices or else we are going to impose price caps,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a press conference Tuesday, the day before the vote on the party’s motion.
“This is about using the power we have to actually make life more affordable.”
The Nutrition North Canada program was launched in 2011 as a joint initiative between Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and Health Canada.
It is designed “to make nutritious food and some essential items more affordable and more accessible” to residents of 124 “isolated northern communities,” including all 25 Nunavut municipalities.
The subsidy is applied to the total cost of eligible products, including transportation and purchasing costs.
The program is currently under internal review and could soon go under an external review, said Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, prior to the vote in the House of Commons Wednesday.
“We are committed 100 per cent that 100 per cent of the retail subsidy will go to northerners,” he said.
However, the NDP argues the program benefits CEOs of big grocery chains more than it does the residents of the North.
“At this point, tax dollars are being used to support corporate greed,” Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout said Tuesday, also ahead of the vote.
Tax dollars that were supposed to “alleviate poverty in northern communities” are used to support the salaries of “corporate CEOs,” she said.
This comes after the disparity between salaries within North West Co. was highlighted in May at the House of Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee.
North West Co. CEO Dan McConnell was reported to get a total of $3.91 million in salary and bonuses according to the most recent available annual figures, while North Mart workers are paid an average of $37,000 per year.
“Everyone knows it [Nutrition North program] is not working, but the Liberals refuse to reform it,” Idlout said on Wednesday.
When your main argument is saying how much a CEO gets paid compared to a cashier, to me, it shows that you are not aware of the full issue and only looking at salaries.
That’s not their main argument and if your response is only thinking about that you’re missing the point. The intent of government subsidies is to make the service more affordable to the end user, not to pad the salary of the CEO or to increase shareholder dividends. The NDP are right in calling for the program to be reviewed, it’s not working as intended.
Fomenting class grievance has long been NDP bread and butter.
I’d be curious to see Jagmeet or Lori present an economic breakdown that shows precisely how changing CEO compensation would directly affect costs. Which admittedly raises a host of others questions, problems and unintended consequences I am sure the NDP has not fathomed.
Because no one cares about NU small NWT and Yukon communities, nor do they care about the small remote ones in the southern provinces.
The above places do not garnish votes. Our Territories are largely unpopulated, for most MP’s its a waste of time for government to even consider dealing with these things.
The reality is, and we’re seeing it now, is that Nunavut is going to become completely unaffordable. Successful people will leave and all that will be left is those collecting social security or foreign workers given housing who are sending a significant amount of their money back home living off their employer while they are here and not investing in where they live. NU’s population growth comes from having the youngest mothers in Canada with on average the most amount of kids (of which we have the highest social security collectors per capita), and foreign workers coming in. Its not because people are settling down in Nunavut to make a life and have a home and family.
Housing, food, transportation (airlines, sealift), its all seen significant increases and continues to increase. While Canada can’t reallocate people again because that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth the first time, they can squeeze the north out over a period of time by allowing essentially monopolies to make it completely unaffordable and force people to relocate.
I have no doubts, we will see the ripple effects of everything being completely unaffordable here in NU, because what successful person wants to do well in life and then for their reward barely be able to buy a 1M dollar rundown home in Iqaluit or 700K-1M home in Rankin Inlet or Cambridge Bay and then have to also pay 500+ a week in groceries for their little family. Young people aren’t going to stomach that, they’re transient, it isn’t the days of settle down into a house near mom and dad anymore.
Not so certain what the future of our home here in the North looks like. Can only hope it works out one way or another.
This is the most fair and accurate comment on Nunatsiaq in a minute. Absolutely NU is already unaffordable and will become more unaffordable in the future. Add in devolution and the gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to widen further than it already is. Like, airline codes aren’t even working anymore…
The Nutrition North Program is a mislead program used by cons and pros i.e. price gouging! This being said it may apply under retail’s receipts but will be used to mark-up Food prices just to manipulate retail shelves! Just take a sample in each remote Northern community, and take a photo on Food prices/ produce and compare in each retail community!
You may notice expired Food prices still same costs nor considered half price! This is used many years with Retails that is owned and operated by southern Head Office! This is known hush!
The company’s total revenue is about $1,830,000,000, the CEO’s compensation is $3,910,000. So every time you spend $100 at Northern, the CEO makes 21 cents. I don’t think that’s the problem.
The CEO of NWC makes $3.91 million to manage 118 stores or roughly $33K per store. In comparison the CEO of Sobey’s makes $13 million to manage 1600 stores or roughly $8K per store. The scaling of the level of responsibility doesn’t match.
Hey there, CEO Pay, it seems you don’t even know the bigger picture what NWC does. They do not solely run NorthMart/Northern stores (130), they also run Giant Tiger (271), Alaska Commercial (33), Cost.U.Less (12), and RiteWay (9). That makes roughly $8,600 per store. That’s pretty darn close to the CEO of Sobey’s, isn’t it?
If you think food prices are high now, just imagine how high they would be if Northern Stores were mismanaged, which would be the case if they could not attract good Executive talent.
Just think what would happen if they were not doing things like negotiating good deals or contracts with their wholesale suppliers, or within their logistics chain, or failed to keep up the import of Northern Stores Managers and staff needed to run things up here. You know, high level business matters that a CEO typically manages.
I will tell you. Prices would skyrocket. Ultimately, grocery stores would have to close as Northern Stores business performance fell, and people would have even more restricted access to food.
It is all well and good to criticize the way things are now. It is a completely different matter to actually say based on good evidence what would make things better.
NDP are just wasting Canadian’s time. They vote with the Liberals on everything the liberals propose even when the program is flawed and they know it wont work,
It’s time to accept what is. Northern/northmart employees will not see better pay. They can wait for their raise every 6 months. The management keeps track of each employee’s start date. And when 6 months of employment is done. They get a raise. They give a raise every 6 months. Atleast they’re supposed to. If I remember correctly, employees at northern/northmart locations in every community receives employee discount when they shop. This excludes tobacco and tobacco products. And if the employees save their receipts from northern/northmart and sign them and them in to the office. They will receive money back. I took advantage of this while an employee for northern. The other option I didn’t take advantage on was financing a vehicle. If I opened a charge account and still worked at northern, I would have asked for a snowmobile, side by side, or atv and charge it to my charging account. If I did that, I’d have imagined me still working at northern.
Frightening. “… or else we are going to impose price caps,” says the NDP Leader with Nunavut MP standing by side.
Imagine the chaos across Nunavut if the government dictates the price, food must be sold at. Keep in mind NDP are talking price caps on food across Canada. While pushing their “corporate greed” slogan. But continuing to vote for carbon tax. Even on June 3 Nunavut MP voted No Summer Time Tax (carbon tax, Federal tax and GST) relief. A $8.05 saving per 5 gallon jug of gas.
Co-Op, Northern and mom and pop stores would instantly hit with price caps have their small profit margins crushed. Causing less variety and cheaper lower quality food sold to help offset losses. The company would lay off staff and possibly close stores. How many years, if the last food store closed in a Hamlet, would it take for a bare and basic government food store to open?
Shopping would turn into long hours of waiting in line. Praying they get the 1 allowed food of each item per week or month before food shortages return. What business would be in a hurry to fly up food, pay the freight bill, then take a loss selling it? Who wants communist style… price caps.
Typical marriage,
Partner A (Liberals) always shooting down the other Partner B’s (NDP) proposals while forcing Partner B to accept all of Partner A’s proposals.
Jagmeet sold the NDP party’s soul to the Liberals. Come election time remember A vote for the NDP will be a vote to keep Justin and the Liberals in power.
At the next election vote CCC!
Competent
Common-Sense
Conservative
You mean the bunch led by the career politician Poilievre who accomplished sweet FA in his decade in Harper’s government? “Competent” is a bit of a stretch.
At the next election remember voting NDP will be a vote to keep the Liberal Party in power in.
The bonuses includes ACL due to turn over of their Management staff’s with Co-operatives Ltd. The bonuses may be between $10k to $30k with Food subsidy included! You may notice few salary oriented Co-operatives Ltd. manager’s (at least trying to be) being pro-active reflect on salary based to conflict of interest business (operations), and at the same time sitting in various paid boards just to add-in honorarium from Management to Bonuses, while elected in various salary Boards! Does this ring a bell with ACL Head Office?
The text of the motion is weak to begin with – no wonder the result.
“SPONSOR OF THIS MOTION
Alistair MacGregor
NDP
Cowichan—Malahat—Langford
British Columbia
SUBJECT
Opposition Motion (Measures to lower food prices)
MOTION TEXT
That, given that the cost of food continues to increase while grocery giants such as Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys make record profits, the House call on the government to:
(a) force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower the prices of essential foods or else face a price cap or other measures;
(b) stop delaying long-needed reforms to the Nutrition North program; and
(c) stop Liberal and Conservative corporate handouts to big grocers.”
Source: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/44/1/798?view=result
Lori – work with the people you represent and act on their behalf:
First, find out why Statistics Canada can not publish the sub-components of Nunavut’s CPI. The only number we know is aggregate “All Items” values without knowing the sub-component data points. That value is collected for Iqaluit only, then extrapolated across the entire territory. We know this is not reality.
Second, find out why different grocers apply different subsidies codes to the same, exact item on their respective receipts.
Third, use your position as MP to access “Microdata” from Research Data Centre Program at Statistics Canada.
Provide insight for Nunavummiut, not platitudes.
The NDP has never understood the Nutrition North program. When I was in retail in Nunavut, I preferred he Food Mail program, but learned to live with Nutrition North when it was implimented. In my experience, it was well-monitored by the federal government on a regular basis, which ensured no price gouging. The paper work reporting requirements were quite onerous and favoured the two big retailers in Nunavut:: North West Company and co-ops.
Northwest company and co-ops have the same bloody owner
The ACL needs to monitor it’s Management’s from conflict of interests to monopolizing in remote community’s. I doubt ACL Head Office would careless whether this happens behind closed doors. This being mention with turn of Co-operatives Ltd. Managers ACL will not respond to this concern while Co-op Management continue to play cards games! Notice this trend?
They do not have the same owner.
The reason we all know Nutrition North was a scam from the start, was what happened immediately after it was enacted: Northern instantly lowered their prices to reflect the infusion of cash the Feds just handed them. Then, 3 months later when everyone was done patting themselves on the back and no one was looking, prices went back exactly to where they had been the day before Nutrition North went into effect. They could have just as easily saved the price stickers from the store shelves before NN and re-used them. Just like with all things in the north (NN, Bell/NwTel, Airlines), the Feds made up some premise to subsidize corporate greed just to ensure their shareholders don’t demand the companies pull out on the north and reallocate their investment someplace else, which would leave the Feds in quite a bind indeed.
The primary issue with the NNC (Nutrition North Canada) program is that northern retailers not only include the cost of freight in their total cost of goods sold, but also apply significantly higher markups on groceries compared to retailers in the south. The subsidy rates were originally designed so that highest subsidized items, such as milk, would essentially be free of additional freight costs and their retail prices would be similar to grocery stores in the south. The highest subsidized items received a freight subsidy roughly equivalent to the average cost per pound of freight that retailers pay. Note that large retailers typically receive a cargo rate that is at least half or less than the general cargo rate available to the public.
Since the inception of the program over a decade ago, the largest retailer in the north has acquired an airline to transport their own freight. This acquisition presents a significant conflict of interest that has yet to be addressed. Before purchasing the airline, both the largest retailer and their main competitor was surveyed on freight rates to all communities, and subsidy rates were determined based on the average rates of these two main retailers. Now that the largest retailer owns an airline, they have the ability to set their own freight rates. Previously, Calm Air transported Northern Stores’ cargo and was profitable, suggesting that Northern Store can now manipulate freight rates for their own benefit. These rates are considered profit for their wholly owned airline, rather than profit from the NNC freight subsidy.
To ensure northern residents receive the full benefit of the subsidy, there should be benchmarks for pricing subsidized items, especially those with the highest subsidies. For example, a 4-liter jug of milk in my community currently costs about $11, compared to $6.50 in Winnipeg. When the program started and Northern Store did not own an airline, the price of milk was about $4.50 for a 4-liter jug both in Winnipeg and in my community. Although the subsidy has increased over the years with rising cargo rates, the full freight subsidy is no longer being passed on to consumers.
While I am not usually a fan of government controls of this nature, it is clear that some intervention is needed to ensure that the subsidy is wholly received by the residents of the north. This is essential to help reduce the high levels of food insecurities experienced in these communities.
The subsidy rates were originally designed so that highest subsidized items, such as milk, would essentially be free of additional freight costs and their retail prices would be similar to grocery stores in the south.
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I see that as a big part of the problem. That’s what people believe and expect, but I don’t believe that was ever the intention of NN.
Look at the costs of doing business in Nunavut, they are off the charts compared to the south. Capitol costs (everything you build is 3-4 times the cost of the south), salary expenses , shrinkage (spoilage and theft), heating/utility expenses, inverntory storage, repairs to the property (coolers, fridges and freezers are very high maintenance…. do they even have technicians in each town?).
How about fire insurance? There is an arson problem in the north and I bet insurance rates are astronomical.
The point I am making is, people have unrealistic expectations. The cost of doing business is so high in Nunavut, it’s not realistic to use southern prices as a benchmark. It can’t happen, there is a lot more involved than just transportation costs.
You clearly don’t know much about NN Dave! This was EXACTLY the intention of NN when it was developed.
There is a very limited list of items that the NN subsidizes and grocers can make their profits on many other items.
This discussion is about the government subsidy that is supposed to make healthy food more affordable not the profits of large corporations fatter.
From the Gov’t of Canada:The core objective of Nutrition North Canada (NNC) is to help make perishable, nutritious and country food more accessible and more affordable than it otherwise would be to residents of eligible isolated northern communities without year-round surface (road, rail or marine) access.
https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1695129230311/1695129279390
It says nothing about making the prices the same as the south which is exactly why people have been disappointed from the inception of the program. The government certainly cannot dictate to retailers what products will become “loss leaders” which you seem to be implying.
I think you have confused the rules for retailer and food banks.
Hey Dave, or is that you Dan McConnell? Nice gaslight… cause everyone knows that if it is currently written on the government of Canada’s website today then it must be exactly what the initial intention was 13 years ago.
You should ask Jim Deyell, Gord Harkness or Carl MacKay, the retired NWC exec’s that choreographed NNC for CIRNAC along with a few exec’s from ACL. There was too much pesky “out shopping” with the old Food Mail program that just had to be stopped.
I don’t need to gaslight…………………. you’re just plain wrong and don’t want to admit it. End stop.
The Government doesn’t give a hoot about 38,000 people in remote places, NN is just an apparition to fool everyone into thinking they care. You all think its bad now, just wait until the GN gets their 11% raise, the Northmart and Ventures will put all their prices up at least 11%, you watch…
Nobody south of the border gives two hoots about a little place called Nunavut.
Majority don’t know it(Nunavut) it exists nor that it’s in Canada.🤪🤣
I agree 100%, scary times ahead I’m afraid, for all of us.
You want to see this get fixed in a hurry? Simply implement a Canada Wide Nutrition Program. Prices are apparently high in the south too.
Just do what they do here. Give millions to the retailers, tell them only certain items qualify for a discount, provide little to no accountability and watch as people lose their minds while corporate greed explodes further.
The Food Mail Program was better. The Cons should have left well enough alone.
The 2023 Northwest Company Annual report shows that this company sold around $1.2B worth of food in Northern Canada last year. The 2023 Arctic Cooperatives Limited Annual Report shows that this company sold around $337M worth of food in Northern Canada last year. Annual Northern Canadian food sales are therefore, at a minimum, $1.6B.
The Nutrition North Program has a budget of around $131M per year. Therefore, Nutrition North is only capable of addressing less than 10% of the food sales in Northern Canada. This program is not a significant factor in influencing food prices up here. At best, it accounts for most of the inflation we have seen over the past 2 years. Therefore, any plans the NDP may have to reform the program other than doubling or tripling the budget are unrealistic.
The smaller communities are suffering bad from this CONservative program, unchanged by the libs. We will thank you with our vote again during election time. Stay focused and keeping speaking out for us as that is what we need.