Sahtu leaders in N.W.T. consider food banks as cost-of-living crisis continues in region

Leaders in the Sahtu region of the N.W.T. are starting to talk to Food Banks Canada and Nutrition North about setting up food banks in their communities as a way of dealing with the high cost of groceries — something made worse by cancelled barges over the last two summers.

"Our objective is to have a food bank in each of the Sahtu communities," said Danny McNeely, the region's MLA. He convened a meeting with members of both organizations and Sahtu leaders in Yellowknife last week to talk about the idea.

It's still in its early stages, he said, with a lot of logistics to be worked out yet. 

McNeely is hoping to bring Food Banks Canada and Nutrition North on a tour of the region by winter road in the coming months to assess what each community needs. The vision is to set up a food distribution hub somewhere in the Sahtu and to regularly deliver food in Norman Wells, Deline, Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope and Tulita. 

"We're going to be designing a supply chain to move groceries from point A to point B in each community," said McNeely. "We haven't got into the details on the logistics and cost of this supply chain. That is going to be one of our next steps." 

Food Banks Canada said it's also organizing emergency food distributions in the region in the new year. 

Few options for shipping goods

The Sahtu relies on barges that travel along the Mackenzie River for shipments of fuel, lumber, supplies and dry goods. Some of the last trips were cancelled because of low water in 2023, and then the entire season was cancelled this year. 

That leaves people with two options: fly things in, or ship them via the winter road. 

Both options are expensive, and it's been driving up the cost of gas and food in the region's communities. Norman Wells declared a state of emergency in October, and a month later the territory said it would subsidize fuel costs in that community to help bring them down. 

Ron Pierrot, who is from Fort Good Hope but spends much of his time on the road as a truck driver, said the prices are affecting his people "big time."

Pierrot said he watched an elder look at the price of a 10-ounce steak in the grocery store before – it was $29 – and decide that it costs too much to buy. McNeely also had a staggering example: he said a box of diapers in one of his region's grocery stores costs more than $60. In Yellowknife, the same box costs $32. 

McNeely sees a connection between the low water levels and the changing climate, and said N.W.T. residents and leaders need to consider an adaptation plan. He believes building an all-season road to Norman Wells is one part of that – and it would help get more affordable food and supplies into the region. 

In the meantime, McNeely said neither organization has yet made a specific financial commitment to the food bank project. Jay Stevens, the northern network manager for Food Banks Canada, said communities could apply for grants varying from $50,000 to $1 million. 

"Each community has unique needs, unique capacity issues, unique infrastructure issues," said Stevens. He was able to meet with some community leaders in Yellowknife last week, and said they made good progress on the idea. Tulita Mayor Douglas Yallee, Sahtu Secretariat chairperson Charles McNeely and N.W.T. Legislative Assembly Speaker Shane Thompson were also among the attendees. 

Stevens also said visiting each community to figure out whether they can handle food storage and distribution, and to figure out what their needs are, is an important part of the process. 

Though Food Banks Canada has provided one-time grants and services to the region before, Stevens said, this is the first time it's been part of a group trying to develop a single food system.