Five northern leaders from across Canada's Arctic say a federal subsidy program intended to bring affordable supplies of fresh, healthy food to the North still isn't working.
The politicians -- from the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northern Quebec and Labrador -- say the Conservative government's reforms to Nutrition North Canada subsidizes too few food items and doesn't guarantee lower prices at the grocery store.
"It's a recipe for weakening northern communities instead of strengthening them," said Darius Elias, a Liberal member of the Yukon legislature representing Old Crow.
He's one of the five leaders who wrote a letter to federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister John Duncan expressing concerns about the program.
But the official in charge of the program defended it, saying grocery prices for subsidized items have come down in most affected communities.
"Our early data is suggesting the program is doing quite well," said Stephen Van Dine of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Nutrition North, formerly known as food mail, is a longtime federal program that subsidizes shipping costs of fresh food to northern communities.
In October 2010, the Conservatives announced reforms to the popular, $54-million program, removing the subsidy on those foods not considered healthy and writing the cheque to retailers instead of shippers. The retailers were expected to pass the savings along.
But the effect of the new list of subsidized foods created substantial sticker shock. When northerners found themselves paying $27 for a jar of Cheez Whiz, the outcry forced the government to temporarily restore the earlier list while it reconsidered.
The new, revamped list takes effect next October. But northerners are now preparing their sea lift orders -- which they use to bring in bulk quantities of non-perishables -- and the new list isn't that much different from the one that caused the problem, said Ron Elliott, a member of the Nunavut legislature.
"It's not working in the sense that there's not the variety I think there should be," he said.
The new list drops subsidies for items including rice, dried pasta and prepared flour mixes.
Van Dine acknowledges the latest list is more restricted than the original version. But he points out it reinstates some items that were initially dropped, such as Cheez Whiz and side bacon.
"What we ended up coming up with was a modified eligibility list that is more nutritious than the current food mail list but doesn't go to the same lengths as the original list in October 2010," he said.
But Elias said the government must do more to ensure that the shipping subsidy is actually passed on to those for whom it was intended.
He said the $12 cost of a three-pound bag of apples has come down by only 40 cents.
As well, he said individual food orders are no longer subsidized. A 50-kilogram box of food that used to cost a family about $41 to ship now costs $96.
"They have to get back in touch with what's really happening in the Arctic communities," Elias said. "It's affecting the health and social and financial pockets of my constituents."
Van Dine said the department's early figures suggest that prices have dropped since last March, at least in the eastern Arctic.
"We are seeing some interesting positives ... real reductions in food prices."
He said the program is still a work in progress and promised to consider the concerns expressed in the letter. The program's advisory board is scheduled to meet soon.
