Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement was on the high price of the Food Mail Program and the high cost of food in the communities. It is a huge problem. Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Premier. Will the Premier work with the federal government to help ensure that the food mail subsidies are visible to the consumers of the Northwest Territories and effective in bringing down the food prices in the remote communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The food mail issue has indeed been raised here a number of times in past sessions and during this session. We worked and supported the work of many groups in the North to have that program reviewed by the federal government. It’s our understanding, through Minister Lee’s office, that they are going to delay implementation of the new program for a year, is my understanding. Thank you.
Thank you. Will the Premier contact the advisory board with the federal program to help him improve the Food Subsidy Program in regard to the costing and showing the prices right in the stores? Thank you.
Thank you. From our understanding, the review has been done. They were working to implement the new program that would see retailers dealing with the subsidy instead of through Canada Post and what we were informed was it’s October 2012 that they will implement this revised Food Mail Program and we will, of course, correspond with the appropriate authorities in this area around that implementation and delays on that. Thank you.
Thank you. Once it’s given to the retailers, we have to have something in place that’s going to police them in regard to the pricing and making sure the subsidy is getting to the people, especially in the small communities because it’s the highest cost of food in the Northwest Territories.
What else can the government do directly to help bring down the price of basic foods in the remote communities? Thank you.
Thank you. The area of the Food Mail Program, again, as a government department we’ve handled it through a number of departments in the past. At this point, through Minister Lee’s office she has the charge of working with the groups on this and any information or concerns that people have, or Members have on that and communities, we can pool that together and through her office make the connection and raise those concerns. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a good program, the Food Mail Program. The federal government is trying to help people in the small, remote communities and I have nothing but good to say about the program. Will the Premier commit today to working with the federal government in making sure that this program helps all fly-in communities in the Northwest Territories to make sure that the cost is being passed on to the people? Thank you.
Thank you. There are a number of other communities as well that benefit from the Food Mail Program. Of course, we will look at the implementation of this program and ensure that the appropriate people benefit from this program, and many times it’s been raised in here that it’s the cost of food in the communities that needs to be affected. We’ve shared those concerns in the past and we’ll, again, follow up with more communications in that area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
