Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2021

[Randy Jones]

Yes, we do.

The main industry of our coast is.... We have 16 communities, from Kegaska to Blanc Sablon. It's a territory that's larger than most countries in Europe. Fishing is the main industry. A few years back—I think 10 years ago—our fish plant folded in our community and we lost 75 jobs. In a town where I live, 75 jobs is like 10,000 jobs in Montreal. That was really a low blow, and we've been trying to recover from it.

I like what Ms. Beardsley said, but I wish that we had those food banks. I never heard about that here. My wife and I have been taking some food and sharing it with people we know are in need. That would be wonderful if we could have access to that.

When you can afford to buy the fish, you do. The way the price of fish, crab, lobster and so forth has gone, the only way one can afford to eat that is if you poach it.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I gather that the fishers mostly sell fish for export to other parts of Canada or to the United States, but it's not for local consumption.

[Randy Jones]

Mostly, yes, it's to the U.S., China and Japan.

There was one young fellow from here who started a fish store. Last summer was the first time that live lobster was shipped from the Quebec north shore to China, and that was an unbelievable feat.

The price has gone so high that the local people can't afford to buy the crab and lobster. Codfish is a thing of the past. We get a bit of turbot, but that's only from a certain few fishermen who will drop in when they're fishing. They mostly sell to Newfoundland.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I'm looking at a map of where you're from, and there are a lot of little communities speckled along the coast. You mentioned ice roads and not being able to use them, but are there any communities inland? I thought all your food came from boats. Is that not true?

[Randy Jones]

No, it comes in by plane. This year, the second week of January they started transporting the food by plane. We have an airstrip—it's not an airport; it's an airstrip—and there was an accident a few years ago here. The guy from Transport Canada told me that in my community of La Tabatière, the airstrip is like an aircraft carrier. He told me that it's one of the three most dangerous airports in eastern Canada. I asked him what number and he said, “You make the decision.”

We almost lost 18 women who had to go to the hospital in Blanc-Sablon for mammograms. My wife was one of them. The plane, by a matter of inches.... Had it not been for the pilot and his skill...saved us from losing 18 women in the small community. That would have been an axe in the back. I'll put it that way.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Do I still have time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

No, Marcus. It's a fascinating story. I hope we'll pick up more later.

Madame Bérubé, please go ahead for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm very pleased that the witnesses are here today.

Mrs. Rochette, you spoke about traditional foods during your presentation.

Why is this so important for food security?

[Marie Rochette]

Traditional foods include all foods obtained from hunting, fishing and gathering, such as berries, seafood or plants.

We now recognize that, in general, traditional foods have a higher nutritional value than market foods. Several studies have shown that the protein and iron content of these products ensures that the people who consume them, especially pregnant women, are much less likely to suffer from anemia, a major issue in the north.

It has also been demonstrated that good fats, especially certain omega-3s, protect against cardiovascular disease. We're discovering more and more products that seem to protect health.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I'm sorry, but we'll have to stop for a moment.

Mr. Clerk, is there a technical issue with some microphones?

[The Clerk]

I'm not sure. I don't see any open that shouldn't be currently.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

The interpreter was having a problem.

I'll give you the 30 seconds back, Madame Rochette and Ms. Bérubé. Please, go ahead.

[Marie Rochette]

Regarding food preferences, in the 2017 survey, we asked people what they prefer to eat. A total of 96% of the population—especially the seniors—said that they preferred to eat traditional foods only or a mix of traditional and market foods. This is very important to Inuit here.

Moreover, their connection to the land constitutes a significant part of their lives. The evidence is growing that traditional activities related to hunting, fishing and gathering are key factors in Inuit health. The transmission of cultural knowledge and land use are essential and are clearly associated with better physical, social and mental health of Nunavimiut.

Not only does this contribute to the good health of Nunavimiut and to their sense of identity, it may also contribute to the economy of the communities.

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

Are there still issues regarding traditional foods in the Nunavik communities and in other parts of Quebec and Canada? Are some of these issues being resolved?

[Marie Rochette]

Take the example of the migratory caribou. We know that caribou populations and herds are in decline. In some communities, caribou are becoming more and more difficult to hunt and people must travel farther and farther from the communities to access hunting grounds.

Climate change is also a major concern for Inuit. Over the years, they have seen how much these changes are altering the flora and fauna. Climate change also affects access to hunting and fishing grounds. As we heard earlier, the ice is less available and is forming later. This is affecting the hunters' ability to travel when they want to go hunting and fishing.

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

You also spoke about the work on the food security policy in Nunavik.

Could you elaborate on this policy, which is currently being developed?

[Marie Rochette]

I said earlier that one goal was to improve access to traditional foods. This means improving, for each individual, access to hunting equipment and gas, for example, to allow for travel. This also means seeing this area as a viable socio-economic sector that would create jobs. Inuit want to be able to participate in integrated wildlife management to ensure that future generations will have access to these foods.

There's also access to quality and nutritious market foods. This can be accomplished by making the transportation chain more effective and by increasing the purchasing power of families. This is quite a key factor when it comes to access to nutritious foods. A number of communities also want to produce food locally. I spoke earlier about greenhouse projects, but there could also be small animal husbandry. The food support initiatives in place could be improved.

In terms of skills development, we must maintain these skills and ensure that youth can continue to benefit from learning opportunities and traditional fishing, hunting and gathering activities. We must continue nutrition education to encourage Nunavimiut to make healthy food choices. We must also work to develop the skills of local food entrepreneurs in order to train food leaders in Nunavik. Lastly, the final element concerns Nunavimiut engagement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much.

Now we have Ms. Blaney for six minutes.

Go ahead, please.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I want to thank everybody for their testimony today. I have found it extremely informative.

My first question is for you, Mayor Jones. Thank you so much for being here with us today. You talked a lot about nutrition north and the need for it to be more adaptive to the needs of the people in your region. You talked a lot about seniors, young mothers, and pregnant women, for example. I'm just wondering if you would say that maybe the federal government needs to change the nutrition north program so that it becomes more of a social program benefiting all people in your community versus just providing subsidies to the grocery stores. I wonder if you have any thoughts on that.

[Randy Jones]

This was on very short notice and I didn't get a chance to do all of the consultation that should have been done. We are fighting for the survival of our people right now. This is not just a whim. We are fighting for survival, and I think that nutrition north has the capacity to help those who are isolated. We have only about 5,000 people, all told, in the 15 communities, and of that there are over one thousand Innu and they've really been taken care of.

The thing is we have to sit down. I think that nutrition north, or the people who run that program, should sit down and look at it and speak with the communities that it supplies and see what can be done to improve it—not to take it away, but to improve it.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you for that. I appreciate it.

You also talked about what's happening with climate change and the fact that it doesn't feel like you've had a real winter.

Could you talk specifically about what's happening around the climate changing, the lack of ice, and food security?

[Randy Jones]

That's one of the major things that have hit us this year. You know, there's Harrington Harbour. It's an island, and up until three days ago, those people were stuck on that island and could not get to the mainland. They burn wood, and every other year they get the ice bridge that goes to the island and they get their wood [Technical difficulty—Editor]. I saw a guy coming out with a load of wood, and he lost his komatik or sleigh, or whatever you want to call it—we call it komatik. He turned to go back and he went through the ice. That's terrible.

Then last night I had a call. My son-in-law was down between here and Saint-Augustin. He has the contract to mark the trail, and he had met up with two Innu ladies who were coming from La Romaine. He doesn't know where they went or how they passed to get to where they were, because it's not marked and there's an 11-kilometre bay they have to cross to get to Saint-Augustin. They were way inside of that. Their skidoos broke down and he had to take them to the camp and let them call on the cellphone to get somebody to come and pick them up.

We are the first to see the effects of climate change. You know, we're in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and look at what's happening here. It's the same thing with the fishery. When the fishery started to go, we raised the alarm first that there was a problem with the fishery. Lo and behold, we were right.

This climate change is hitting us full front, and it's impossible to explain and tell you the effect it's having on the people of our community. Wintertime is the time they do their chores. They cut the wood. They go fishing, ice fishing, rabbit hunting and all that, and that's not even on the table.

This is why this program is so important, so we have nutritious food for people, especially the seniors, and we don't have to worry. That's the most cherished asset we have—the seniors—and we don't want to see anything happen to them because of this pandemic. We want them to have nutritious food to eat.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you so much.

My last question, in the little time I have, is for Ms. Beardsley. You talked about Food Banks Canada investing in harvesting local food. I'm wondering how much money went into that. Could you get that to the committee, and anything else you'd like to add?

[Kirstin Beardsley]

Yes, I can certainly get that. I don't have the exact amounts with me right now, but when we did our grant for rural and northern communities, we really drove the application by local community needs versus driving a prescriptive application. Many of the requests were for purchasing food, because that's the critical, immediate need, but there were some—like the ones I mentioned—that were more specific to accessing traditional and country foods. We would support that going forward. We're working through another grant application now to support communities.

I can get you that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks very much.

We now go to a five-minute round, starting with five minutes for Mr. Schmale, then Mr. van Koeverden, Madame Bérubé and then Ms. Blaney again, Mr. Viersen and Mr. Battiste.

Mr. Schmale, please go ahead.