Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last summer the federal government announced changes to the Food Mail Program for Canada’s North, basically to subsidize the cost of transporting food through Canada Post. The new plan is to subsidize retailers directly. We all hope the new program will finally reduce the cost of healthy food in our remote communities and improve the variety of food available. The new subsidy applies to such foods as milk, fruit, vegetables and bread. Just yesterday the Indian and Northern Affairs Minister said it will continue to subsidize some other goods such as toilet paper. He said the retailers were saying that changes to the program were happening too quickly.
The Food Mail Program is the biggest subsidy program in the North. Given the terribly high prices of basic foods in the communities, it is important that the federal government get this one right. It must help our residents, not just the retailers and freight companies. When a small bag of salad costs $10 and a litre of milk costs $18, we have to wonder who this is benefitting.
I’m glad the federal government is making changes based on the feedback it’s getting from the North, but it makes me think that the changes were not well thought out in the first place. Maybe the federal government needs some help. The new Food Mail Program is replacing Nutrition North. This is transparent and reliable. The consumers must be able to see where the subsidy goes. It must bring down the prices of staple foods for our residents. Healthy eating and living are priorities of this government and crucial to the health of our people. I encourage the government to work with the federal government to improve the new Food Subsidy Program.
I will have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time.
