New funding keeps food mail rates stable

The federal government has committed an extra $12 million a year to the food mail program, for a total of $27.6 million a year in funding.

The additional funding will mean food mail rates will remain stable for the ninth year in a row, Robert Nault, the minister for Indian affairs and northern development, said in a news release announcing the increase.

Food mail is a federal program that pays a portion of the cost of shipping perishable food and other essential items to isolated northern communities.

The news release said the new funding is in response to the December 2002 Auditor General’s report.