Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 27th, 2020

[Serge Beaudoin]

Several factors contribute to it: the remoteness of the region, the cost of transporting food, and the influence of the environment and climate change on traditional routes to the North. Personal income is also a basic factor. Because average disposable income is often lower in the North, this lack of funds makes it difficult to buy food, regardless of its price. All of these economic, environmental and social factors contribute to food insecurity.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

In your opinion, does food insecurity affect men and women equally in northern Canada?

[Serge Beaudoin]

That's something we study in our programs. I think our studies show—and my colleague could add to this—that food insecurity affects men and women equally.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

How do you think food insecurity in Canada's North compares to food insecurity elsewhere in the country?

[Serge Beaudoin]

Food insecurity is undeniably higher in the North, in the territories and in remote areas that benefit from the program. Statistics show that. The most recent Statistics Canada survey from 2016 shows that food insecurity in the North was higher than elsewhere in southern communities for the reasons we have discussed. That is why we have a program for those 116 isolated communities. By definition, they do not have access to a road for much of the year. When they do, it is a winter road or something like that. So they have to fly food in, which is more expensive.

There is, however something new in the program. There are communities accessible by sea or winter road for part of the year. The food that goes to them that way can now be subsidized. Often this can reduce costs, as it is more expensive to send these foods by air.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Since you are talking about transportation, I would like to talk about certain regions, such as James Bay, Nunavik and Eeyou, where I come from. It is often difficult to send food there by plane, and there are no railroads or ships.

How do you send food to these areas when there are such issues? Is this done on a regular basis? How do you go about it?

[Serge Beaudoin]

Normally, there are suppliers on the ground. Stores deal with them and arrange for food to be delivered. It's a solution that comes from private sector companies or cooperatives. They order food and then they make a claim to access our subsidy. We then make sure that the subsidy goes to the people on the ground. That is part of what we do.

So it is the private sector companies that make claims to the federal government to get food to people. These claims are audited by chartered accountants.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

In the 2011 report “From Food Mail to Nutrition North Canada”, the committee recommended, after full implementation of the Nutrition North Canada program, that monitoring and evaluation tools be introduced to determine the impact of the program.

What steps has the government taken in this case to address this recommendation so you can move forward?

[Serge Beaudoin]

Thank you for your question, Ms. Bérubé.

It is a key issue. We want to make sure that the subsidy goes to the people it is intended for, the people in the North. So we have put in place a series of transparency measures.

First, suppliers must have agreements with us to give us access to their books. In particular, they must write on their cash register receipts the savings realized by the individual thanks to the subsidy. These measures are designed to allow people to see the savings they are making.

In addition, we have introduced verification measures. We do internal audits of companies, based on risk and on a rotational basis, to ensure that the subsidy has actually been passed on to people on the ground.

In addition, we hire an accounting firm to verify receipts. Before we reimburse the suppliers, they send us their invoices each month, and they are subject to an accounting audit.

All of these measures have been put in place to ensure that the subsidy reaches the people in the North and to guarantee transparency. In fact, all of these measures are also presented in the form of a report on our website.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much, Mr. Beaudoin.

Mr. Johns, you have six minutes.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Thank you.

It's my understanding that nutrition north has consistently been under budget. This is dating back to 2014 and most recently leading up to your departmental results report of 2017-18. Can you explain why?

[Serge Beaudoin]

It's a good question indeed. It's a demand-driven program. We have a list of eligible foods and we aim to have the most nutritious foods so that northerners can purchase them. The total amount of subsidy is dependent on food purchased on the ground, so sometimes we find—

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Would it make sense to increase the subsidy just to get the money out the door and help support those who are in most need?

[Serge Beaudoin]

We make adjustments along the way to expand either the number of foods that are subsidized or the subsidy rate, to help ensure that the subsidy actually gets on the ground as much as possible. Just recently, in January, the advisory committee met, because we want to make sure we're expanding the list to reflect.... There is an escalator to the contribution, by the way. It's a 5% escalator. We want to make sure we're maximizing the scope and breadth and that the full amounts are being used.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Have you looked at a mechanism that can be adjusted throughout the year, especially if that money is not moving? Clearly, if you're not spending, you're not meeting the needs—

[Serge Beaudoin]

To be clear, when it's not spent, it's reinjected into the program, so we're making enhancements. Some of the enhancements I mentioned in 2019 are enhancements that are due to an injection of funds into the program to expand the scope and the level of subsidy. We're constantly making adjustments to try to make sure that the subsidy is maximized and that the impact is maximized on the ground.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

You've stated the importance of the program to the overall health of the community in terms of how community members are affected by the food they eat. Does your department have any information on this or can you share how a northern diet affects things like teeth or the need for nutritional supplements and medicine?

[Serge Beaudoin]

I don't have that myself, but perhaps my colleague from Indigenous Services Canada in the first nations and Inuit health branch may have something to add to that.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

When he is speaking to that, could he also maybe speak to the lack of dental services or access to doctors and how that impacts your work?

[Dr. Tom Wong]

Indeed, the lack of food or food insecurity is a major determinant of ill health. When a child is does not have enough food at home and is going to school with a growling stomach, can you imagine what happens to academic achievement, as well as predisposition to many diseases? We know that. There are diseases such as tuberculosis, for example, that are associated with food insecurity.

Unfortunately, the needs are so many and there are so many gaps in Canada in the north. Resources currently are limited; however, I see the opportunities for the future, more opportunities to actually have support for distinctions-based, first nations-led, Métis-led and Inuit-led development and implementation of food security strategies to address food insecurity but also all the downstream health complications.

For some of the excellent examples of pilot projects raised over the last 20 minutes, you can imagine how those can be scaled up and can support communities. With successful pilot projects like that, I see great opportunity for the future.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

That's super.

Going back to Mr. Beaudoin, when I talked about the budget and not spending the amount allocated, I hope the department will look at ways to make sure it is meeting the threshold that Parliament has set out in terms of that money being spent so that it gets into the program and lowers costs for people.

I have another question. Part of nutrition for northern communities includes the ability to hunt wild game and make it available in local communities. It's a very important part of the culture and a way of life in the north. Does your department offer any programs or include any provisions to practise wild game hunting? Has there been any work with communities in support of wild game hunting? Maybe you can elaborate on the self-sufficiency comments you made earlier with regard to hunting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

You have less than a minute for that. Please go ahead.

[Serge Beaudoin]

This is new. Based on the consultations that were held, there was a resounding message that northerners wanted access to such a subsidy.

That is what's rolling out this year, with $40 million over eight years going to communities to organize themselves to have access to the hunting infrastructure or hunting material that is required—boats or Ski Doos going out on the land, etc.—and to managing that the way they see fit.

Often, that can go back to the community. If they need a community freezer to give access to their catches to other members of the community, that is also something that can be done with a grant.

This is all new and is rolling out now.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'm out of time. If I don't get another round, can I have some questions go through you to the department to get them answered?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Absolutely.

Mr. Zimmer, we have you and Mr. Viersen on our speakers list for the next....