Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
NL

N.L. group slams Nutrition North subsidy program as federal food failure

Residents in Hopedale, Labrador, will get their say at a Nutrition North public consultation, as the federal government weighs changes to the program that some say isn't working.

Advocates say retailers not passing on savings to consumers; subsidy should be given to hunters

Stephanie Kinsella · CBC News ·
The federal government is consulting with 20 Northern communities to get feedback on the Nutrition North program. (Nutrition North Canada/Facebook)

Food First N.L. members have a grocery list of complaints for federal representatives who are in Labrador Tuesday for the Nutrition North food subsidy program hearings.

Ottawa is overhauling the program, following a scathing auditor general's report that showed the federal government can't prove savings are being passed on to Northerners.

"As far I know, there aren't any subsidies, they're not using them in both retailers here in Hopedale," said Martha Winters-Abel, a regional coordinator with Food First N.L.

There is a Nurtition North subsidy available in Hopedale, but Winters-Abel said expensive items are only one part of a double whammy.

"The fruits are … rotten. Some of them come in and they're already quite spoiled," she said.

'Prices are so high'

The Nutrition North program, launched in 2011, provides subsidies to certain Northern retailers, suppliers and food processors and distributors.

But according to a 2014 report by Auditor General of Canada Michael Ferguson, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs doesn't require merchants to report their profit margins.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson questioned in a report whether the savings from the subsidies were being passed on to customers. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"This data is necessary to determine whether the full subsidy is passed on," the report said.

Winters-Abel said customers aren't seeing any benefits.

"We need an improvement in that the prices are so high," she told CBC's Labrador Morning. 

Hunters, not retailers, should get federal cash

Winters-Abel, and others in some of the 20 Northern communities where consultations are taking place, have an alternative to the current program.

They want hunters to be eligible for a subsidy to cover certain costs, like gas and ammunition.

Hunters from Arctic Bay, Nunavut, make their way across the ice on their way home. Advocates say hunters, and not retailers, should be eligible for federal subsidies in the Nutrition North program. (Tom Naqitarvik/Facebook)

"If you could provide a hunter support program, I think it would help our community, especially in terms of providing traditional food," said Winters-Abel.

The public consultation sessions wrap up in November.

With files from the Labrador Morning

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

External Links