The federal NDP is on a mission to convince the Harper government to expand the Nutrition North food subsidy program to another 46 remote communities in northern Canada, including five in Saskatchewan.
High transportation costs push the price of basic food items to out of reach levels in remote northern communities. As an example, in Fond du Lac. four litres of milk costs about $18, 18 eggs cost about $8 and a pound of grapes is about $3. There is a partial subsidy in Fond du Lac or the prices would be even higher.
The NDP wants a full subsidy for that community, as well as Stony Rapids, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake, Uranium City and 39 other remote communities in Canada. The NDP’s Aboriginal Affairs critic, Niki Ashton, says it’s a health issue.
“Absolutely,” she says. “And we talk about the connection between food and security and the lack of availability of nutritional foods and the rates of diabetes which are often astronomical and growing in our northern communities.”
The cost to expand the program would be about $7.5 million. The current budget is $60 million, but there are questions on what impact the program is having and how the money is being spent.
Last year, Canada’s auditor general said it was having minimal impact and lacked accountability. Ashton agrees.
“And what we ended up seeing was his report was dynamite,” she says. “I mean, Nutrition North has failed in so many ways and one of the key recommendations he made was to include these communities that were excluded entirely.”
The NDP has launched a petition drive and has been hammering the government on the issue in the House of Commons. On its website, the federal government says if a community wants to be included in the Nutrition North subsidy program it can apply.
More information is contained on the Nutrition North website.