Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. Most definitely there are discussions internationally with Arctic nations, occurring through the Arctic Council. There's a very vibrant network of the eight nations constituting the Arctic. In particular, there are deep dive discussions on things rela

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today on the important subject of food security in the North as you begin your study. I would begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin people. I am joined t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Food insecurity levels in the North are challenging. More needs to be done to improve the broader well-being of isolated northern communities, and engagement with the working groups and the Advisory Board will help find new solutions. Other government initiatives hav

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That is a good question. Maybe I'll turn this one over to Mr. Walsh in a moment. Can I ask for additional clarification on the question?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The Amazon system does deliver to Iqaluit. Currently that's the only place on our list that can access those items. We have put in place things like having access to individuals to order food from the south and to the subsidy using their own credit cards and things like that. Th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The subsidy is definitely aimed at retailers and suppliers, but individuals can order directly from southern stores that are participants in the program, hence the reason they can do this via Amazon.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There have been discussions with Amazon in the past.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Indeed this also came up during the engagement that was held from 2016 onwards. The idea of having innovative solutions in the north is definitely present, and in budget 2019 funding was provided to the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency of $15 million over five years

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What I can speak to is the program the department has, which is the nutrition north program. As I mentioned, this is a complex issue that is highly partnered and requires the participation of different partners. Nutrition north is designed to be part of the solution. It is a tool

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That is an interesting project. We're trying to look at this with a whole-of-government approach to dealing with these issues. That's important. As I mentioned, the program we're managing has a specific mandate. Beyond that, when we bring other federal departments and agencies

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, and my colleague will elaborate.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Several factors contribute to it: the remoteness of the region, the cost of transporting food, and the influence of the environment and climate change on traditional routes to the North. Personal income is also a basic factor. Because average disposable income is often lower in t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's something we study in our programs. I think our studies show—and my colleague could add to this—that food insecurity affects men and women equally.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Food insecurity is undeniably higher in the North, in the territories and in remote areas that benefit from the program. Statistics show that. The most recent Statistics Canada survey from 2016 shows that food insecurity in the North was higher than elsewhere in southern communit

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Normally, there are suppliers on the ground. Stores deal with them and arrange for food to be delivered. It's a solution that comes from private sector companies or cooperatives. They order food and then they make a claim to access our subsidy. We then make sure that the subsidy