Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Let's take Kuujjuaraapik; and I can only speak for us. On October 9, for a bundle of 15 products that were eligible then and 15 products that are eligible now, including fresh meat, commercial bakery, fresh fruit, eggs, dairy, the inflation rate year over year was 1.18%. So the answer is no, they did not change October 3.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Andy started us down that road. Andy was fundamental in striving to make the points with INAC. I don't know what the other retailers are seeing, but the shrink rate in the north for produce can be as high as 16% to 18%. Those are goods that we cannot sell when they arrive. The industry standard in the south is 8%, so you just take that as a cost of doing business and providing perishable goods--

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Oh, absolutely, Scott. As you know, it's a complicated thing. But also...any time wasted in the chain, as you well know.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We currently ship country food and will continue to do so. We will embrace the program, but I think Mr. Morrison brings up a good point: we'll need more federally inspected plants to make it really work. One recommendation: I'd put this recommendation on INAC, that the rights and processes are important, and bigger bang for your buck.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Let's take the examples of bacon and Arctic Bay. Bacon in Arctic Bay went up in retail price because the freight rate moved from 65¢ a pound to $3.93 a pound. So that's an item that became non-eligible. The same thing happened to pumpkins. So yes, we—meaning INAC or us—could have informed the public in advance of the magnitude of the change because we knew the freight rates going in and we know what we pay for the rest of our freight.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. You have to keep the customer informed.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Russell, it's not only the method of transportation but it's the infrastructure on the ground. In terms of the infrastructure investment that we have in the 69 communities that we operate in, our net book value of those assets is $76 million. In those markets, we'll spend $15 million every year in capital expenditure and we'll invest about $3 million in new housing or renovated housing for our staff.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Overall, INAC will have a communication program, which we will post in all stores as required. We'll develop communication packages in line with INAC. They'll take this type of flavour to them, where we advertise specific products. We might call it “Nutrition North in action”, but we'll talk about what happens to bananas both with and without the subsidy.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For example, because we had adequate notice, we shipped more bottled water on sealift to keep the price down. In addition, because bottled water will become contentious in some communities, because there will be higher prices when we run out of the sealift supply, we invested in more Dyna-Pro machines, which are water filtration devices.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's not only the non-nutritional value. I can't comment on the nutritional value of pumpkins. Through their research, INAC and Health Canada deemed that they weren't a product that was largely a consumable. Again, it would be more beneficial to put the subsidies behind leaf products, and produce such as berries, and so on.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll take it at the moment, Mr. Russell. We don't know what the rates are going to be. They're going to vary by community, and there are two levels of subsidy. None of us knows the exact details of the program yet. If you want a guarantee when that's announced, I think all the retailers and air companies could tell you at that time.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. As Andy indicated, we were consulted throughout the process and made a couple of submissions to INAC, as an alliance of northern retailers. Mr. Kennedy might have made those available to the committee at the last meeting. If not, we will certainly share them. Specifically, are you interested in whether we were asked about the food, the nutritious product list?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Very parallel to what Mr. Harper indicated, and Mr. Pearson: not our place, because INAC was working with Health Canada to determine the final list, to make the final suggestions. This is a nutrition-based program. But certainly, like Mr. Harper and Mr. Pearson said, narrow your focus and go big, essentially, on the products that matter the most.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, sir.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. I think all retailers in the north have that physical presence that allows a platform to promote and support healthy eating. To that end, the involvement of Health Canada is a major boost to the program. We have taken the initiative to develop Healthy Eating: Paint Your Plate with Colour, a healthy eating guideline that we've already launched, that follows the guidelines of Health Canada.