Playing politics with Nutrition North

Timing of food subsidy program’s review suggests Liberal government wants to neutralize northern election issue

Grapefruit bearing a Nutrition North Canada label sit in the produce section of Northmart in Iqaluit. (Daron Letts photo)

By Corey Larocque

No wonder Nunavut MP Lori Idlout has concerns about the timeline for the federal government’s review of Nutrition North. The federal Liberal government took the wind out of the NDP’s sails on a key northern issue, a year before the next election.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal was in Iqaluit last week to announce a review of Nutrition North, the subsidy program that helps insulate northerners against the market price of some groceries.

The program has been in place since 2011, but many northerners gripe about high grocery prices anyhow.

Idlout and New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh have been beating up on Nutrition North since the 2021 election, calling for a reform of the program that gives grocery stores money to lower their food prices.

Idlout and the NDP say it would be more effective if the government put money in the pockets of regular northerners, rather than give the money to the grocery stores.

The NDP proposal is fraught with problems. If the government gives the cash directly to northerners, there’s a risk they will spend it on something other than food and still have to face higher market prices at the grocery store checkout.

Last week Vandal announced the government will name a special representative to lead a review of the program. That representative is to be appointed in 2025 and a final report is expected sometime in 2026.

That’s months — and possibly more than a year — after the next election. Canadians are scheduled to go to the polls in October 2025, a year from now. But that vote could be held earlier — any time now — if opposition parties join forces to defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government in the House of Commons.

So with an election imminent, it looks like the Liberals want to neutralize what could have been one of the NDP’s strong campaign issues in Nunavut and Nunavik, where Nutrition North is an important part of daily life.

With an election looming and Liberals’ fortunes sagging in opinion polls, watch for Trudeau’s cabinet ministers to do whatever they can not just to hold onto the seats the party has, but also prevent ridings like Nunavut and Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, represented by Bloc Québécois MP Sylvie Bérubé, from flipping to the Conservative party.

While Idlout won Nunavut handily in 2021, the territory has a history over the past decade of electing a New Democrat, a Liberal and a Conservative. It’s not crazy to think that, despite poor prospects for the Liberal party across the country, that Nunavut could be in play.

That’s a good reason for Vandal and the Liberals to neutralize the Nutrition North issue.

Between now and 2026, whenever Idlout and Singh bring up Nutrition North, Liberals will say they know the program needs work and they’re working on it. Stay tuned — we’ll have a solution … in a year and a half. After the election.

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(24) Comments:

  1. Posted by Pork Pie on

    It’s hard to imagine the Liberals have much chance in Nunavut, whatever ‘strategy’ they employ. It is possible the NDP could win, but that’s hardly a given. The Conservatives should have the momentum, but they’ve had a habit of picking mediocre candidates recently. Given that an election will happen sometime between any moment and one year from now I wonder who they have in mind? Have they done anything to recruit their candidate?

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    • Posted by 5309 on

      Preston Manning and Doug Ford for Prime Minister.✌️🤘🙃

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  2. Posted by Janimarik on

    I’ve been thinking, Canadian dollar currency in south compare to the north seem very different, it varies around different markets, depending on high demands and what’s offered on daily lives consumption, spendings on necessary materials extremely high, on top of that, poorly nutrition foods are sold way cheaper than healthy foods, let’s say what’s offered more is cheaper than the ones that are less offered in stores, back to what I was saying about Canadian dollar currency, is not quite what is told how much worth it is, northerners face an equity very uneven compared to southerners cause their earnings as well is not so even… snowmobile where I’m from is now sold close to 30k, that’s a lot just to have a right to healthy nutrition lifestyle, madame Idlout is right, nutrition north needs an improvement, give us more budget for our earnings so we can keep up with this mainstream, capitalism rat race! I’m still proud to be Canadian and always will be lol

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    • Posted by S on

      Thanks for your comments Janimarik. In reading them I sensed that you were thinking and on a reasonably deep level. Nonetheless I couldn’t find agreement with anything you said.

      Clearly costs are higher in Nunavut for most goods, given the higher input costs for nearly all goods, including delivery from the South. Add in the huge and disproportionate employment in the Civil Service in Nunavut, wherein many (if not most) are paid a wage well beyond their value, from most of whom there is virtually no value added to society or the economy, and who compete for the few private foods and services offered.

      Nutrition North ONLY subsidizes food. Items that are edible but aren’t considered food, such as confectionary, fruit juices, and highly-refined cereals, are NOT subsidized. Same for beer, cigarettes and pot.

      A decent new sled costs $25,000 down South; if it’s nearly $30K in your home hamlet, so be it!

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      • Posted by Janimarik on

        You don’t need to agree with me Mr. or Mrs. S. Clearly you’re not from north, defensive over southern based ideas, that we see comments on nn daily. Subsidized grapefruits aren’t gonna feed my family as I was saying so be it! And give me my money

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      • Posted by Lucinda on

        How anyone could arrive at “thinking and on a reasonably deep level” from that is a true mystery.

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      • Posted by W on

        S, I appreciate your always well articulated comments. Note in this instance that 200ml fruit juices with no added sugar are subsidized at Level 1 (ie. kids juice boxes), and subsidized at Level 2 when over 200ml. In addition, all breakfast cereals, including those with added sugars (even Froot Loops), are subsidized at Level 1.

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      • Posted by W on

        Fruit Juice 200ml per unit with no added sugar is subsidized at Level 1

        Fruit Juice.over 200ml per unit with no added sugar is subsidized at Level 2.

        All ready to eat cereal, including with added sugar, is subsidized at Level 1.

  3. Posted by W on

    S, Note in this instance that 200ml fruit juices with no added sugar are subsidized at Level 1 (ie. kids juice boxes), and subsidized at Level 2 when over 200ml. In addition, all breakfast cereals, including those with added sugars (even Froot Loops), are subsidized at Level 1.

  4. Posted by Lionel on

    The governing conservatives commissioned and released a review of the precursor Food Mail program in 2008. The report, called the “Food Mail Program Review”, is available online. The reviewer, Graeme Dargo, was clearly instructed on what it should say, as the justifications for the recommendations are transparently weak. Nothing unusual there, as governments regularly direct independent reviewers and contractors on what they want as a product. Anyway that review resulted in the development of Nutrition North. Is the timing of this review a political calculation as the article suggests? Certainly, and you can’t really blame the Liberals for trying given the desperate situation they are in. So the most likely outcome will be the review will be done for a Conservative government who will then determine what changes to make to the program.

    As to the program itself, Lori’s suggestion of just giving people money is obviously ridiculous, but that is to be expected from the NDP. It is also really unlikely that it will go back to the system of the Food Mail program, which basically paid the freight for people who ordered groceries from designated sellers in the south (various problems with that, including high cost and inequality in results, as many folks did not have the wherewithal to place orders). So the review will get done, a report hopefully more independent and thoughtful than the 2008 one will be released, and the (likely conservative) government will announce their proposed changes that nobody will be happy with.

    • Posted by Clarity not Cynicism on

      A mostly good comment, but one thing I would quibble with is the idea that the old Food Mail program was limited to personal orders. That isn’t true, although it didn’t have the same public profile (i.e. Nutrition North price tags, details in receipt, etc.) it was in fact applied to groceries sold at Northern, Co-op, etc. I’d say the biggest single difference is that Food Mail was directed through the airlines already operating in the North, whereas Nutrition North is directed through the retailers operating in the North.

      One goofy thing about Food Mail was that everything (at least for Iqaluit) needed to be routed through Val D’or Quebec for some reason.

  5. Posted by Sadnamehere on

    Could you imagine if the government only gave money to Co-op’s and took NorthWest company $ away? We really should only have cop-ops in our communities, At Least we know where the money goes, right? Instead of lining Northmarts pockets for years, I get food has to be part of the program because Cancellation North Airlines is so costly, but does shampoo really need to cost $30 bucks? isn’t that stuff shipped in? as well as fresh pop at $40 bucks a case, Vs my $20 bag of grapes and $36 cherries, $20 milk….I pay taxes but after food, bills, etc. I have enough till next payday for one bag of chips and kids wishing for a $78 toy that is $8 downsouth……wheres jesus to turn my $5 bucks to a $100 when I need him, oh yeah his walking beside me.

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  6. Posted by Really Nunatsiaq? on

    This article smacks of a “let them eat cake” attitude that I wouldn’t expect from a newspaper that reports on one of the most food insecure places in Canada.

    The line “The program has been in place since 2011, but many northerners gripe about high grocery prices anyhow” could not be more dismissive of Nunavummiuts’ concerns about the high cost of groceries and worries that stores serving us may be pocketing a substantial amount of the subsidy without passing it along to consumers.

    Let’s not also forget the line in the article reminiscent of the “beer and popcorn” remark from the liberals where Corey states:

    “The NDP proposal is fraught with problems. If the government gives the cash directly to northerners, there’s a risk they will spend it on something other than food and still have to face higher market prices at the grocery store checkout.”

    This kind of dismissive attitude is actually contrary to evidence that shows that when you allow people agency over how they spend their money, their outcomes and well being actually improves over the long term and people are more likely to put said money into the local economy.

    No research was done on any of the topics looked at in this so called editorial, it was just an excuse to talk down to Northerners.

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    • Posted by Not naive on

      I strongly suspect Corey is right on this. Granted, you allude to having evidence that putting money directly into people’s pockets (agency) leads to better outcomes. Let’s see it?

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      • Posted by Really Nunatsiaq? on

        I feel like it’s part of a journalist’s job to fact check the assertions they make, even in an editorial. I’m not a journalist, but 5 minutes on google scholar found several reputable journal articles that show guaranteed basic income as on par with or better than other social assistance programs aimed at food insecurity.

        You can’t link to articles on the Nunatsiaq comment section for security and virus reasons, but feel free to do your own research.

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  7. Posted by ZeroEnergy on

    Why isn’t Nunavut MP talking about the coming government mandatory C02 emission calculating and reporting for all the food a grocery store sells, which will push food prices up?

    A touch under 2 years ago, Financial Post called this emission reporting… “like a train out of control…”

    Because when the Nutrition North Program report is released in 2016, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) may have the government mandatory emissions reporting program in place.

    CSSB will follow the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) global direction.

    This mean a grocery store must explain, calculate and report C02 emissions on every of step of the way… Lets say for a bag of potatoes.

    The grocery store must calculate and report each C02 emissions from productions, ship to airport, flying up, transportation to a store, and to display shelf.

    If frozen food, the added emissions where refrigeration is required at each refrigeration point along the way.

    But wait, there’s more. The store will also need to include emissions on… You travelling to the store, buying it, taking it home, cooking it, then the disposal of package or food waste.

    Good luck to small independent food stores and canteens stores if able to stay open if can afford expensive professional accountant emission reporting departments?

    Maybe Nunavut’s MP will announce how much food prices will skyrocket following CSSB/ISSB climate-related financial reporting?

    Remember, it’s all for reaching net zero… for climate change… saving the planet, as the must believe line goes. Maybe not a train out of control. But like a twisted carbon tax on steroids still using the climate excuse to race in for ultimate control and always high food prices.

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  8. Posted by Loose Lips Larry on

    Nutrition North is the biggest lie ever told, there is nothing any cheaper. Yes you save .28 cents on a carton of milk or .53 cents on a bag of oranges. Big deal, the milk is still $11.57 and the bag of oranges is still $14.33. Who can afford those prices? Maybe the CEO of Northmart can but most northerners are struggling for one reason or another. In the end, chips and pop shouldn’t be the main staple of anyone’s diet but they are the cheapest foods to buy, eating healthy is just too expensive.

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    • Posted by I Do Love Pop and Chips – a nice luxury on

      Go to the store and do a pound-for-pound comparison of a 10 pound bag of potatoes vs a 240 gram bag of chips. I’ll give you a hint, if that bag of chips is $7, a 10-pound bag of potatoes should cost $132.

      Then, do a litres-per-dollar comparison of a 12-pack of Coca Cola vs tap water. Another hint, if the Coke was the same price as tap water, a 12-pack would cost less than 10 cents.

      I think we’ll see that chips and pop are not the cheapest foods to buy. People just don’t know how to cook. Or drink water, which is weird.

  9. Posted by Cynicism on

    Yes, the people who will pay ridiculous amounts of money for a single can of pop that is slowly killing them via diabetes will be responsible stewards of public funds. Trust us.

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  10. Posted by Clarity not Cynicism on

    On a related point, there are a lot of non-perishable food and other items subsidized by Nutrition North that are transported by air, when the most climate-friendly thing would be to send them by sealift. I wonder if this will be captured in those Sustainability reports you mention?

  11. Posted by Life below income on

    It’s very difficult now to live in the North with 2 store in the community. Northern Quebec is too far from Canada. I’ll give you example many people drink soda’s Here in Northern Quebec A case of 24 in the south is less than 10$ and where I live it cost 77$ a case fruits goes to garbage because it’s not affordable anymore. Imagine families with no income today.

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  12. Posted by eskimo joe on

    pictured oranges? about $2.49 is about their profit. produce is dirt cheap from North American producers…. and on top of that 2.49 per orange, there’s a half dollar probably added to that as profit to retailer through NN. CEO laughing all the way to the bank and cheer up NWC local managers, you’re about to be rewarded in few months at the year end of the NWC with a bonus more than your cashiers make all year. Ahh unscrupulous retailers; it must be nice to robbed the public legally. NN is is an icing on the cake.

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  13. Posted by Hunter on

    Remember when you go to the polls,

    The NDP voted with the Liberals to have a carbon tax and to keep increasing it.

    The carbon tax has cause food prices to inflate 35% faster than in the US with no carbon tax.

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