Food mail program should carry country food: Aariak

The federal food mail program must allow traditional "country" foods such as game meat to be shipped between northern communities, Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak says.

Aariak made the point Thursday as she outlined the Nunavut government's official submission to the federal government's review of the food mail program, which subsidizes the shipping of nutritious food by air to isolated northern communities.

Aariak said the program is essential to healthy living in Nunavut, and she is seeking changes that would give Nunavummiut cheaper access to a wider variety of food.

"People are shipping country food items to their relatives and whatnot, and that has to be enhanced so that it is part of the food mail program," Aariak told CBC News.

"In some areas at certain times of the year, caribou meat is not available in some regions [and] we have an abundance of other country food like fish and seal meat."

For decades, the program has helped grocery stores in 135 communities across the North offer produce and other healthy foods at prices that are not extremely expensive.

Program under review

The Indian and Northern Affairs Department has been reviewing the efficiency of the program, which cost almost $50 million to operate last year across Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Earlier this year, the department received two studies that pointed to possible solutions, including a suggestion that the shipment of country foods be covered under the program.

"We feel very strongly that that will benefit our community, too," said Allan Rumbolt, the MLA for Hudson Bay.

Federal officials have also suggested eliminating personal food mail orders, but Aariak said people in Nunavut should have the right to choose if they want to make personal orders.

"Some form of individual access should be maintained," she said.

Currently, the food mail subsidy is equivalent to about $650 a year for every person in Nunavut.

A spokesperson for the Indian and Northern Affairs Department told CBC News that final recommendations will go to Parliament in the coming months.