UN food rapporteur visits Canada – but skips North
Olivier De Schutter visiting cities across Canada for food security study
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food is on day three of his 11-day visit to Canada.
This is the first time the United Nations is investigating food security in a developed country.
Olivier De Schutter is stopping in cities and First Nations communities in southern Canada, but he has no planned stops in the North.
De Schutter will investigate different areas of food security in Canada, such as social programs, economic accessibility and aboriginal peoples.
Ron Elliott, the Nunavut member of the legislative assembly for Quttiktuq, said he is frustrated that De Schutter will not visit the North.
"They were going to be talking to different aboriginal groups and I was wondering where they were actually going to get the Inuit content and get a better understanding of some of the issues we experience in the North," said Ron Elliott,
Elliott represents Resolute, Arctic Bay and Grise Fiord, three of Canada's most remote communities. He hopes the UN might visit a community like Grise Fiord in the future, where a 2-litre carton of milk can cost $13 to $14.
Some foods, like milk, are subsidized through Nutrition North Canada. The director of that program met with De Schutter in Ottawa Monday.
De Schutter will get some input on food issues for Inuit - he is meeting with health representatives from the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Tuesday in Ottawa.