Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 16th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Thank you very much.

We are going to start out with a six-minute round.

First up, we have Bob for six minutes, please.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Thank you all for coming. I know it's a long journey to get to Ottawa. The flights to Ottawa are a bit better from Iqaluit, but if you're any farther north or in Cambridge Bay, it's very much a long day. Again, thanks for coming today.

My questions will be for Brian Tattuinee.

Brian, you live in the north. I know you have a good job with the sealift, and you also work for the co-op—the food provider in the north. I've shopped at the local grocery store there, and I see how expensive it is. That's even in Iqaluit, where it's relatively inexpensive. As you get further north, it gets far more expensive, as you know.

You have a young family. How many kids do you have?

[Brian Tattuinee]

I have two boys.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

You and your wife have good jobs. What is it like to buy groceries in Iqaluit?

[Brian Tattuinee]

It's relatively expensive, I'd say. Typically, as a family of four, we probably spend between $300 to $500 a week on groceries.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

That's for a family of four, and I'm assuming you're not buying fancy things when you're buying groceries. Give us some examples of some food that Canadians would buy—milk and some of those examples. What has stood out to you? You've been here too once in a while, in Montreal. What are some foods that really stand out to you as being exceptionally expensive in Iqaluit?

[Brian Tattuinee]

It's pretty much everything that's not eligible for nutrition north Canada—things that are not deemed, I guess, as nutritious enough to fall under the program. If we're trying to save time, some of the quick meals, the frozen meals that you prepare, tend to be more expensive just because they aren't an eligible item under nutrition north.

However, it is expensive overall. There's really no other way to explain it. There are higher costs associated with having a retail operation in the north.

I have the luxury of being able to say that I can afford to feed my family, but there are challenges that the retailer might have to offering good pricing. There are a lot of costs involved.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Is it safe to say food prices have gone up in the last couple of years and haven't gone down?

[Brian Tattuinee]

I would guess so. Inflation is a real thing, and it is certainly a challenge.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

According to Statistics Canada, 58.1% of people in Nunavut live in food insecure households, many of whom are your neighbours and people I've met. Kevin stands out to me. It's a very difficult situation. It's the highest rate in the country and more than double the national average.

You didn't say this, but I'm going to. The Prime Minister said last year, “Canadians will hold us to account by their experience at the grocery store, when they are paying their electricity bill, when they or their children are looking for a place to live.” People might say, “Look, food has always been expensive in the north”, but northerners took him at his word when he said he would be measured by the price of groceries, and it hasn't gone down; it has gone up.

For me, that comes back to the second part of affordability, which is having the ability to buy food. It's one thing to have expensive food, but if you have a good job—and you and your wife have good jobs—you can afford a house and you can afford food. Even though it's expensive, it's affordable, technically.

You spend a lot of time at a key piece of infrastructure, which you mentioned: the port of Iqaluit. It's a key part in building a vibrant economy in Nunavut. Could you explain the difference that the port of Iqaluit has made, maybe as a sealift business but even to making food cost less or making it more affordable?

[Brian Tattuinee]

Certainly.

The port of Iqaluit is a beautiful piece of infrastructure. I think it was long overdue. Iqaluit is a growing community, but it's also Nunavut's biggest community. That piece of infrastructure has increased our efficiency in being able to deliver essential goods to the community. We went from taking 10 to 14 days to off-load a ship within an hour of high tide to being able to deliver cargo throughout the regular workday rather than trying to meet a specific tide. We went from off-loading two or maybe three barges per tide to being able to deliver consistently throughout the day.

For our operation, it has increased efficiency, and having a safe area to work always reduces the risk of any damage happening. These are some of the real benefits that we've seen since this important piece of infrastructure was made available.

That's not the same across other communities. Other communities have much more limited infrastructure. If we could see more of those kinds of investments, not ports in every community but even something as little as improving the ramp or lay-down areas in communities, that would make a huge difference for us and would make things safer, more reliable and more efficient.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Thanks, Brian.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Thank you.

Lori, go ahead for six minutes, please.

[Lori Idlout, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

Qujannamiik, Iksivautaq. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses.

[Member spoke in Inuktitut]

[English]

This is what I said. First of all, thank you for appearing.

Specifically to Inuaraq, I hope that as you are a productive young adult going into adulthood, you remain a hunter all your life. I think that being a hunter is such an important skill.

I want to ask my first question of Merlyn.

We met a few weeks ago, and you talked about some of the challenges you have in making sure there can be more self-reliance, as you mentioned. I wonder whether you can share some recommendations as to what this government can do to help make more self-reliant communities so that businesses can help make sure that we have a more affordable cost of living for Nunavummiut.

[Merlyn Recinos]

Thank you, Lori, for taking the time to speak about that.

It all goes down to giving the opportunity, the skills and the tools to capitalize on that opportunity. I'm going to be fully transparent: The north has definitely been great for opportunity. There have been many opportunities coming to Nunavut. Unfortunately, we have not been given the skills necessary to capture the opportunities. Therefore, a lot of the time, opportunities end up escaping Nunavut and going to southern Canada.

If today we did a full study on the workforce in Nunavut, we'd see that a lot of it is a transient workforce that comes to Nunavut to capitalize on opportunities. That's great for southern Canada, but when a southern person comes to Nunavut, they don't spend on food. They don't spend on accommodations. They're not buying trucks, skidoos or anything like that to support their families. A lot of those funds are exported back to their homes, which is totally okay, but then that leaves individuals at the community level wanting to participate but unable to participate because they don't have the skills. Developing the skills to allow them to take control of their futures is what is needed.

The opportunity is there. Every single day, we talk about construction, housing, infrastructure, ports—a lot of opportunity—but there has been very little communication in regard to how we can build up the population to capture that opportunity and, even more so, ensure that opportunities are also on par with the culture.

Right now, we have 82% Inuit content across our projects. We employ around 284 Inuit, and we make sure that when the belugas are coming or it's fishing season or hunting season, there are no questions asked; they're allowed to leave work for that. We have specific requirements to fulfill those needs, because—

[Lori Idlout, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you. I'm sorry to cut you off, but I also want to ask questions of Brian, and I don't have enough time.

Brian, you mentioned that some of the things that might help include sea floor mapping, sealift lay-down areas and ramps. I'm wondering if you could share with us if you think the government investing in those kinds of things would have an impact on affordability for the north.

[Brian Tattuinee]

Any kind of infrastructure that's improved will always make operations run smoother, with less likelihood of any sort of damage taking place. I'm not opposed to any kind of infrastructure development anywhere in the north, because we're so deficient in it. Any sort of investment that improves the supply chain across the north will always make a difference for affordability. Part of it is about making sure our cargo arrives safely. When we have safe places to work and lay down our cargo, it will always improve the overall operation.

[Lori Idlout, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

A year or two ago, a sealift was grounded, and I'm wondering if you could share, from your experience, whether that was related to the lack of bathymetry that has happened or whether there needs to be an increase in that activity to help make sure that sealifts can happen across the north more safely.

[Brian Tattuinee]

I don't know the exact details of that particular incident first-hand, but again, if the federal government made investments to improve the charting we have, the ice surveys that take place or the navigational aids that are established across the north, that would make significant improvements to our operations. It would be safer for us to transit areas where perhaps there aren't as many spots that have known depths. It's identified on maps where there are general areas that are safe for passage, but in between those points, there could be an anomaly or something that wasn't initially picked up. That is why investments in scanning or the Canadian hydrographic service offering updated charts and typical transit routes would make a significant difference for us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Thank you very much.

Mrs. Gill, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being with us today and for making this very long journey. I must tell you that I'm the member for Côte‑Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, so I don't represent Nunavut. However, there are still many similarities in certain places.

By the way, Mr. Tattuinee, I read on your LinkedIn profile that you often talk about infrastructure. You talked about it today. I see it as one of the keys to development. You also talked about safety for northern populations. Could you tell us a little more about that? It's really very interesting. You say that by being on the ground, you can foresee what's coming and what's needed not just for development, but also for the populations. Could you tell us more about the strategic infrastructure northern populations need?

I know that, where I live, certain infrastructure assets are currently at risk, so I can understand how infrastructure is the cornerstone of life in the north.

[Brian Tattuinee]

I'm sorry; I was trying to listen to the live interpretation at the same time as the question.

I speak a lot about the challenges we have, and quite frankly, I try to ensure the public knows that the things I post are meant to teach the wider public or our stakeholders about some of the challenges we have. The logistics timelines of the federal budget or any government budget don't meet the sealift deadlines we have.

If a major project is moving forward and it's a government project at any level, April 1 is when money becomes available, but it's already too late for the season. That often leads to increased costs for projects, because the timeline for funding becoming available doesn't match the logistics that are required to deliver on those projects, especially if they're larger projects. That is why it's important for any government to involve us as the logistics service providers earlier in the conversation. It's so that we're all prepared to deliver on these important projects across all of our communities we serve.

Those are some of the things I would say a government can look to make improvements on. Try to match the timelines for projects with the logistics that get projects to those communities.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Thank you very much.

Young people are rarely at the table when committees meet. Unfortunately, as you said, they're the ones most directly affected.

Mr. Recinos, you spoke about what young people need to live in the north, because it's something they may want to do.

Mr. Angutimarik, I believe you also spoke about young people who want to work in the north and pursue opportunities there, but struggle to do so.

What conditions would allow young people to say not only that they have a future in the north, but also that they have the future they want?

Mr. Recinos and Mr. Angutimarik, you may answer. We want to give youth a voice.

[Merlyn Recinos]

People in Nunavut want to live and thrive in Nunavut, but a lot of the time, due to housing and education, they leave their communities. The chances of them coming back are slim to none. We get them to get educated, but then they can't come back. There is no housing. There is no opportunity for them to come back. That's one of the things we need to ensure.

The second aspect is education. We just announced the university for Arviat in Inuit Nunangat. Nunavut Arctic College runs some things, but we have never really looked at how we can deliver better education at the level of the community and the workforce on the ground. We need to ensure that we're doing that.

We're a company, a business, and we're doing socio-economics at the community level, creating education, creating jobs and creating capacity. We can't do it alone. In order for us to scale, we need partnership.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Sheehan]

Thank you very much.