Public Accounts Committee on March 1st, 2022

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

That's good.

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

Part of that came out of extensive consultations with the people in the north. It is true that when we added the further money into the program, rather than leaving it capped where it was, we didn't do additional consultations, but that new money was going to the things that were already very heavily consulted on by two separate groups. We'll continue the program.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Can you tell the committee, what is the annual cost of the nutrition north Canada program?

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

It fluctuates. It's demand-based, and around $138 million is a typical figure in any given year, but again, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, the more you ship the more the demand, so the costs go higher.

There was a big change in the program. The Inuit came to us, and said they wanted harvester grants. They didn't want to have to buy food at stores. For the first time ever, we actually set up a specific grant, so that people could collect their own country foods, and that we would support that.

That had never been part of the program, and because of extensive engagement with Inuit—

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

What does that support look like? What do you mean by that?

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

For example, if you need fuel to go hunting, which is obviously very expensive in the north; if you need equipment; if you need hunting equipment; if you need fishing nets or anything that helps you to collect country foods, like fish, game, picking berries, or whatever it is, we will support that.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Does that include snowmobiles?

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

I'd have to check on the specifics of that.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

That's a take-away for you today.

Can you tell us if the funding is indexed to inflation?

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

It's a per kilogram subsidy of food. That's the way it works. It's about a shipping cost, so it's not directly related to the price of the food itself, it's related to the—

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

If the shipping cost goes up, which we've seen, will it be reflected in the new rounds of funding?

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

We review the program on a regular basis, so we do make adjustments, but they're related to a number of factors.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

You have 36 seconds.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Okay. I'll get to you.

There are so many good questions.

Going forward, and I want to stress going forward, you mentioned some of the programs to support our indigenous people to be more self-sufficient and to give them the tools and support. Going forward, do you see any need or opportunity to expand this kind of support? I agree with my colleague, MP Desjarlais, that we should be able to support them in their own ways.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

You have time for a very quick answer.

[Daniel Quan-Watson]

I would say that the Inuit and northern people I have worked with are some of the most self-sufficient people I have ever met, and we are very proud to support them as they do that.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Fantastic. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you, Mr. Dong.

Ms. Sinclair-Desgagné now has the floor for two and half minutes.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will continue with my earlier line of questions on the subject of fairness between regions.

My question is for Mr. Hayes.

Point 12.61 of the report states that the department decided to invite five organizations to apply for available funding, and point 12.62 states that a sixth organization had been invited that did not meet all of the criteria.

Could you give me the name of this organization?

[Andrew Hayes]

I think that Ms. Leach could give you the name of this organization.

[Kimberley Leach]

Six organizations received funding.

They are Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, Breakfast Club of Canada, The Salvation Army, Community Food Centres Canada and La Tablée des Chefs. Those are available on the AAFC website under this program.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

My question was on the fact that one of these organizations did not meet the required criteria to receive public funds.

Which criterion did the organization fail to meet?

[Andrew Hayes]

As we indicated in our report, it was the criterion regarding national or regional scope.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

This organization could therefore not deliver its products or generate profits in all of Canada's regions.

Which Canadian regions were unfortunately not serviced by this organization?