Evidence of meeting #32 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nutrition.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rob Clarke Conservative Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
I'd like to clarify that 2007-08 was the year I quoted.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Okay. I don't know that this is a point of order either, but let's carry on.
Now we are really going to go to Mr. Payne. Go ahead.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for coming today. And hopefully I'm not going to be making a point of order here.
I notice that nutritious perishable foods make up 80% of the volume, which is quite a large portion. We did hear some of the concerns about other products. So that's an important piece we've heard. As well, we've heard a lot of concerns from all of you. I think the process today is important because we can get that information.
One of the things I was quite interested in finding out from Mary Simon was that in fact two-thirds of this program is for the Inuit. That certainly surprised the heck out of me.
Anyway, as I understand, certainly there are issues with transportation, particularly in the north. One of the questions I have, and maybe you can help me out, is about competition. We're trying to make sure that the food, the perishables, certainly, are subsidized. So the issue is transportation, as Mr. Elias has talked about. Is there competition for air transportation to these remote communities? That, I think, is an important element in terms of providing this nutritious food to all of your communities. Please make comments on that.
5:10 p.m.
Representative, Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services
There's no competition.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
5:10 p.m.
Grand Chief, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
In Manitoba alone there's basically.... In many of the communities, it's just the one airline that flies in.
5:10 p.m.
President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
In the Arctic, in some parts of the north, there is competition, depending on where you're located. In Nunavik, there's really no competition. But if you go into Nunavut, there is a fair amount of competition. You have three airlines going into that new territory as well as to the Northwest Territories. They can make quite a difference.
The other thing is that the big retailers have an opportunity to negotiate much more than the smaller, private sector retailers do. So they may be in a better position to offer more competition. It's a fairly complex process.
5:10 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
I'll just make a quick comment. There's no doubt that the program has an impact on the Inuit, but I would add that our information is that in terms of population, about 47% of the folks using the program are first nations. It's a significant program for both the Inuit and first nations. I just wanted to add that comment.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
That's fine. I appreciate that.
Mr. Elias, I think you had your hand up.
5:10 p.m.
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Yukon Legislative Assembly
From the perspective of the Yukon, we have only one airline that provides regular service. It changes from season to season with regard to how many flights a day they have to the community, but we have only one option, and that's Air North. It's the only airline that flies in and out of Old Crow on a regularly scheduled basis.
In 2008-2009 we had $333,300 used for the subsidy program. Last year, $264,800 was used for the food mail program. And every single item came on Air North. We have only one option. That's why we suggested that the Department of Indian Affairs deal with Air North as a transportation subsidy, as one accountability structure and reporting structure, versus however many other retail outlets want to participate.
5:10 p.m.
Senior Health Policy Analyst, Chiefs of Ontario
I have just a comment regarding the number of first nations who might use the program were they eligible. Since we only have eight of 32 that are now eligible—at least in northern Ontario—I think, as Mr. Jock has remarked, that it's not a matter of who's using it but who could use it. I think the committee needs to look at where the capacity is.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
I have just a real quick comment. I know we talked about obesity, Certainly I think that's an issue right across Canada. So if you have some solutions that would be good for first nations as well as all Canadians, please speak up.
5:10 p.m.
Grand Chief, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
As I sit here listening to this particular issue—we're talking about good nutrition—I just want to remind the committee that we need to look at communities in a holistic way. We need to look at all the contributors and ask why we're talking about the health of the people.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Acting Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
If anyone wants to get back to the committee on that--it's a big topic--just send it to the clerk and he'll distribute it to all the members, or anything else that you didn't get a chance to say today.
We'll move on to Ms. Crowder.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Just to clarify something, from the department's website about country foods it says that transportation of commercially produced country foods between northern processing and distribution locations and eligible retailers in communities within the region will be subsidized. So you're correct: it's commercially produced country food, according to the department's website.
Since I've only got five minutes and you won't get any summary comments, I'd actually like to go around and ask if there is anything that we've missed or that we didn't ask?
Ms. Labranche?
5:15 p.m.
Representative, Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services
One thing we've always had problems with are the entry points. Maybe that's why fresh produce is not so fresh by the time we get it—because it's bought in Montreal, trucked to Val D'Or, where it's inspected, then trucked back to Montreal, then distributed to the communities. That's a long space for fresh produce. It's a waste of time.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Ms. Simon, is there anything that hasn't come up over these last two hours that you think the committee should know about?
5:15 p.m.
President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
I think, just consulting with Ann here for a second, the funding cap isn't well understood by the people at the community level. It is increasing, but it's limited to $60 million, and people don't understand that. So communicating about that concept and helping people understand it really needs to be developed.