Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will start with food security background information and key messages.
Food security is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as follows: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
The right to adequate food is a human right affirmed in multiple human rights instruments, and the Government of Canada is obligated to respect, promote and uphold this right. The Government of Canada ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1976. It is a binding international treaty that affirms the right to adequate food under article 11, which states:
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.
The committee responsible for managing the implementation of the covenant has clarified the meaning of the right to adequate food as follows:
The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture;
The accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.
I will now turn to food insecurity rates in Nunatsiavut.
The 2014 Nunatsiavut household food security survey found that 61.1% of Nunatsiavut households were food-insecure. In Nain, the household prevalence of food insecurity is 79.3%. It is 83.1% in Hopedale. Rates in the north are over six times higher than the rate for Canada. In Hopedale, 5.6% of households reported that at some time in the past month, children within the household had not eaten for a whole day. In Nain, 13.4% of households reported this situation.
The 2017 aboriginal peoples survey found that 68.3% of Inuit aged 15 and over in Nunatsiavut experienced food insecurity when taking into account low food security, very low food security and marginal security.
We have drivers of food insecurity, which I will point out. They are related to a loss of culture and traditional skills, infrastructure, climate change, wildlife and conservation, poverty, lack of education, training and employment opportunities, costs associated with hunting and gathering, and the cost, quality and availability of food.
We have different scenarios, because we do a lot of research on various types of issues. We do a lot of homework on issues related to the Labrador Inuit to make sure that opportunities like this will give us the chance to help you understand better what we are facing.
There are other examples.
Our small northern communities lack the suite of social support services that would typically be available in a larger urban centre. These are services such as food banks, soup kitchens, thrift stores and emergency shelters. There are few options for families seeking support for food access.
Community freezers, where residents can access wild foods that have been harvested and donated to the freezer, exist in all Nunatsiavut communities, but the freezer stocks typically deplete quickly, and supply does not keep up with the demand. Sharing that works between friends and family is strong in Nunatsiavut; however, many households still suffer from severe food insecurity.
These are just examples of how we try to deal with our food insecurity and try to help Labrador Inuit, at the same time practising our culture and traditions.