Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2010

[Michael McMullen]

Let's take Kuujjuaraapik; and I can only speak for us. On October 9, for a bundle of 15 products that were eligible then and 15 products that are eligible now, including fresh meat, commercial bakery, fresh fruit, eggs, dairy, the inflation rate year over year was 1.18%.

So the answer is no, they did not change October 3.

The major fluctuation that I hope everybody in the room is aware of in produce, and it extends to meat, is the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar. Most of the retailers in this room that I know of—because we don't grow bananas in Whitehorse or anyplace else—get their supply from the U.S. in produce. If that dollar value changes substantially, you will see an increase in the price of produce. That has nothing to do with either the old food mail program or the Nutrition North program.

So we have to be aware of all economic factors, Ms. Glover, that can impact the price of perishable items--especially perishable items--especially with the commodity prices.... Why do you think that potash company of Saskatchewan is in such hot demand right now? Commodity prices are rising. Pork bellies went up, what, $1.70 a pound? Bacon went up $1.70 a pound just in the commodity price in the last three weeks, and that's in the U.S., in the southern markets. So we have to be aware of those things when we talk about Nutrition North.

And, Mr. Lemay, when he talks to us next year, that's one of the things I'd like to make sure that we are talking about: the right economic influences.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you.

I have only a few seconds left. I just wanted to again make a correction. I'm one of those correctors. I should have been a teacher.

We never want to see bananas going by boat.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

That is not the intent of this. I don't want anybody to misunderstand.

We expect that perishables will get there in a manner that will make sure that they're fresh and can be consumed. If they don't get there and they're spoiled, then there is recourse under this new program that was not available under the food mail program. You do have the opportunity, as Mr. Morrison said, to go after them.

Mr. McMullen, I see that you have a comment.

[Michael McMullen]

Andy started us down that road. Andy was fundamental in striving to make the points with INAC. I don't know what the other retailers are seeing, but the shrink rate in the north for produce can be as high as 16% to 18%. Those are goods that we cannot sell when they arrive. The industry standard in the south is 8%, so you just take that as a cost of doing business and providing perishable goods--

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Okay. Thank you, Mr. McMullen and Ms. Glover.

Mr. Bateman, you have maybe 10 seconds.

[Scott Bateman]

Mr. McMullen, when you talk about the shrink rate, are you factoring in the events of force majeure, where a community can be down for nine days while your perishable product is sitting at the hub?

[Michael McMullen]

Oh, absolutely, Scott. As you know, it's a complicated thing. But also...any time wasted in the chain, as you well know.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Okay, that was great. That was a good little exchange there, if a little outside the bounds of our mandate, but that's fine.

Let's go to Mr. Bagnell. We have a couple of minutes left. I'll give a heads-up, though, before people run out of the room: I do need to see the subcommittee members for 30 seconds before you leave and run out of the room at 5:30.

Mr. Bagnell, go ahead.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Thanks. I don't have very long, so you will probably have to get back to me in writing if you have any comments on these points.

We had a lot of complaints yesterday about problems the new program would cause, and a couple more today, but the things that were problems could, I think, be solved in the existing program. Actually, the existing program does try to get nutritious foods, and they periodically review it, so that could easily have been done. Getting more stuff on sealift could easily be done under the existing program. That doesn't need to change.

The policing program actually seemed to have more chance in the existing program because we've got Canada Post inspectors. Now you're going to have inspectors for all these different transport agencies.

You're right about the recourse. INAC should have put that recourse into Canada Post long ago.

With respect to the sealift, the heat and electricity aspect is a good point in the north. People yesterday said that now we're going to have to have more storage facilities in the north--the $10 million you mentioned--and then all that gets added to the price of the products up there.

Pamphlets are a great idea, and we can't do that under the existing program. In fact, we only have to have the one carrier price, as opposed to all these prices for these different carriers.

Mr. Morrison, Mr. Harper, and Mr. Bateman made a great point, which was that we'd better be seeing lower prices for the good nutritious perishable foods now that we've taken others off to save money.

Finally, I thought that Mr. Dargo actually did a lot of consultations, but that the recommendations didn't reflect what people were telling him directly. He did talk to a lot of people and he made some good points about what they told him, but when I saw the recommendations in the very end, they didn't seem to totally reflect that.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that aspect?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We're really out of time. I'll take one witness, if anyone would like to respond.

Mr. Harper, go ahead.

[Kenn Harper]

I wasn't consulted by Graeme Dargo, but at some of the sessions and in the risk assessment session, which involved all the retailers, it became quite clear that many of the recommendations that Mr. Dargo claimed came from the major retailers had not come from them at all. They denied any knowledge of having given that input.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll have to leave it there. If you could forward responses to some of Mr. Bagnell's other questions, that would be great.

I'd like to thank all the witnesses for joining us here this afternoon. It's been very informative for our study.

Thank you, members, for all of your questions. We'll see you back here a week from Monday, after the break, and we'll continue our study on Nutrition North Canada.

Thank you very much. Have a good afternoon.

The meeting is adjourned.