Kwe kwe, ullukkut, tansi. Hello and bonjour.
May I start off, Mr. Chair, by congratulating you on your election today.
I'd like to acknowledge that I'm located on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional meeting ground and home for many indigenous peoples including Cree, Saulteaux, Niitsitapi, Blackfoot, Métis and Nakota Sioux peoples.
Access to healthy and affordable food has been an issue for too many isolated and indigenous communities in the north. Food insecurity is a drain on individuals and communities, saps away at the spirit, and is a roadblock towards development.
This department is working hard with partners to put in place measures to improve both the accessibility and affordability of nutritious food and other essential household items in northern and indigenous communities.
One of the programs we have developed to help address these challenges is the nutrition north Canada retail subsidy program.
CIRNAC officials have been in regular contact with indigenous and northern partners and the nutrition north advisory board, which comprises members who have extensive experience living and working across nutrition north Canada's delivery area, to understand and address their immediate and long-term food security concerns.
Nutrition north Canada programming is also directly informed by two working groups—the indigenous working group and the inuit-Crown food security working group, both of which ensure that northern indigenous and community perspectives are heard and considered.
We have also held ongoing discussions with territorial governments and other federal departments on collaborative long-term solutions towards food security. The Auditor General recommended that the department collect pricing data on pre-subsidy food items so that the program can show if it is meeting its objective of making food more affordable.
We agree with this recommendation and we have taken it to heart.
We've committed to working with registered retailers to collect pre-subsidy prices for eligible items. The program will also review and amend agreements with all retailers to require that pre-subsidy prices be submitted with monthly subsidy claims. We will make the results public on the CIRNAC website.
As the Auditor General's report highlights, the program increased access and, where data was available, affordability of nutritious food and essential household items to residents in isolated northern communities during the pandemic.
I can give you some examples. In June 2021, in Iqaluit, Nunavut, the impact of the increased retail subsidy can be seen in items such as these. A dozen eggs cost $7.05 before the subsidy and $4.29 after. Five pounds of fresh carrots was $16.13 before the subsidy and $7.99 after. We can show items that are now more accessible to northerners due to increased shipping volumes. For example, in 2021 over 42 million kilograms of subsidized food and essential items were shipped to isolated northern communities. This represents an increase of roughly 10 million kilograms or 30% over the previous year.
These examples show that the program has been successful in both making food and essential items more accessible and more affordable in the North.
The Government of Canada will continue working with partners to ensure that healthy food is available in northern and indigenous communities.
I look forward to any questions you may have.
Meegwetch, merci, marci and thank you.