My name is Byron Louis. I'm the chief of the Okanagan Indian Band. It's an honour to be here today to share on the perspectives of the Assembly of First Nations concerning food price inflation and its devastating impacts on first nations.
Given the short time for opening remarks, I will focus my remarks on three areas: the historic context of first nations food security and insecurity in Canada, the impacts of food price inflation on first nations, and our recommendations.
I'll start with the history of first nations. We have historically experienced systemic discrimination and colonialism, which have contributed to food insecurity, lost culture and the infringement of our rights. If you look at the recent Yale decision that came out of Northeastern B.C., it's specific to cumulative effects on 97% of their traditional territories, so you can imagine what the impact of that is on such things as what are defined as our country foods.
As first nations, we have a unique and sacred reciprocal relationship with mother earth and all living things. As such, environmental stewardship is central to our cultures, traditions, health and food sovereignty. However, environmental degradation and settler colonial policies continue to damage our environment and erode our food sovereignty.
First nations in Canada are experiencing extremely high rates of food insecurity, with many first nations households finding it difficult to put enough food on the table. Recent studies found that first nations experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, about three to five times higher than the Canadian population overall. Families with children are even more affected.
Over the last century, first nations have experienced a profound nutritional transition, from traditional food to an increased reliance on market food systems and a resulting heightened food insecurity.
Throughout the pandemic, first nations have been returning to traditional modes of hunting, fishing and trapping, only to compete with more licensed hunters than even before and fewer populations of fish and wildlife. We are witnessing in our lifetime the disappearance of salmon in the Yukon and the unimaginable poverty that's taking over, which impacts the full scope of the ecosystem. First nations see this as a crisis of food security, as wild country foods that were once plentiful no longer exist, and store-bought foods that first nations cannot afford take their place.
In British Columbia, here, if you look at some of the statistics on chinook salmon, about 13 out of the 14 chinook stocks are in peril and requiring some type of listing, and that is a major part of our diets on the west coast.
If you look at the impacts of food price inflation on first nations' food security and sovereignty, the cost of food in Canada rose by 10.4% in January 2023, the highest rise since about 1980.
If you take into consideration any northern community, you're talking about the ability.... If you're able to haul goods and services over an ice bridge it's about 60 cents a pound, but if you have to fly them in it's $60 a pound, so you can imagine the effect that has on anyone's buying power.
According to the consumer price index from Statistics Canada, grocery prices are up 9%. However, first nations communities face even higher food prices, up to 2.5 times higher than the national average, putting food beyond the reach of many first nations families. In my own experience of being up in Old Crow, which is the highest community in the Yukon, a small piece of coho salmon about this big and that looked like about a single serving was $26 for that piece. If you have a family of five, do the math. That's well over $100 just for that one family to put that on the table for food. If you're on a fixed income, think of what that causes and the actual price of hauling it in.
When you look at food prices, inflation poses unique and significant impacts on first nations, who are already facing challenges related to food insecurity and access to healthy food. The average wage of a first nations family is $22,000 per year, which is defined as the poverty line in Canada.
In the past, we were able to live or subsist on this because we had access to our traditional foods. That does not exist anymore.
As first nations, traditional foods remain essential to our food systems. Food price inflation makes it more expensive for first nations to practice hunting and fishing, creating additional barriers to traditional foods.