Réseau communautés éloignées et nordiques - contenu

Conservatives looking to change Nutrition North program

THE CANADIAN PRESS: It appears the Conservative government is open to the idea of changing the way it tries to offset the high cost of food in the North.

The department that oversees the beleaguered Nutrition North program has posted a notice of proposed procurement, asking for someone to come up with different ways of providing northerners with the federal food subsidy.

Nutrition North, Leona Aglukkaq and the future of the AFN on Nation to Nation

APTN NATION TO NATION: It was a stormy end of 2014 for Inuk cabinet minister Leona Aglukkaq. Constituents in the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut were captured on camera rummaging through the local dump for food. The minister reacted by heckling in the House of Commons and by reading a newspaper while the debate around her raged.

Feeding My Family's call for boycott prompts strong reaction

CBC NEWS: On Monday, food security group Feeding My Family proposed a one-day boycott of all North West Company stores across the North, suggesting the company isn't passing on federal food subsidies to consumers.

The suggestion caused quite a stir, on all sides of the argument.

Feeding My Family: Boycott North West Company

YUKON EMPLOYEE'S UNION: Feeding My Family would like your help in boycotting North West Company (NWC) owned retailers and wholesalers located in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska and southern Canada. We are asking you not to shop in any North West Company stores or use any of their service providers on Saturday, January 31, 2015.

Read the original article here.

Rebuttal: Modern-day monopoly? North west company responds

Last week, CBC Manitoba published this opinion piece by Winnipeg writer Don Marks about The North West Company, which has stores across Canada's North. The following is a rebuttal to that piece by Derek Reimer, the company's director of business development.

Study suggests link between oilsands and Fort Chip illnesses

CBC NEWS: A study conducted by First Nations groups and scientists from the University of Manitoba released Monday suggests the Alberta oilsands are in part to blame for some health concerns in the downstream community of Fort Chipewyan and higher levels of heavy metals in wildlife. 

Poverty a major barrier to good health for urban aboriginals: study

ADAM CARTER: Hamilton’s urban aboriginal people face multiple barriers to health care, significant rates of chronic disease and elevated emergency room visit levels compared to the rest of the city, according to a landmark study from St. Michael’s Hospital.

The study, published Thursday in medical journal BMJ Open, marks the first time researchers have accessed detailed information about how an urban aboriginal population in Canada uses health care.

 

Report analyzes cost of healthy food in KTHR

The average cost to feed a family of four in Kelsey Trail Health Region is slightly lower than the provincial average, according to a report written by the Saskatchewan Food Costing Task Group.

The Cost of Healthy Eating in Saskatchewan 2012, released by the Saskatchewan Food Costing Task Group, surveyed 107 grocery stores from urban and rural locations, both on and off reserve, throughout the province from June 1 through 15, 2012. The grocery stores were randomly selected and participation was voluntary.

Labrador Food Shortage: Stores Down To Last Items In Some Towns

SUE BAILEY: There's no excuse for bare grocery shelves in remote Labrador communities still waiting for spring food shipments delayed by ferry issues, says provincial Transportation Minister Nick McGrath.

"They have every reason to be upset," he said Monday in an interview of coastal enclaves such as Hopedale and Makkovik that haven't had major freight deliveries by ship since the fall.

 

Makkovik grocery store down to sugar and flour

A grocery store manager in Makkovik is fed up waiting for the first shipment of dry goods this year.

Carol Dyson of Big Land Grocery hasn't had any supplies delivered since last December.

Dyson says the store is down to some staples, including sugar, flour and canned milk.

"The only thing that's saved us is the fact that our freight was so late coming last fall," said Dyson.

Nunavut food security protest in Iqaluit focuses on expired products

DAVID MURPHY: The exorbitant price of food in the North wasn’t the only thing Leesee Papatsie and her group of about a dozen supporters protested at an event in Iqaluit held June 14 across the street from the Northmart store.

Protestors fought turbulent winds that blew cardboard signs out of the hands of some sent hunched-over protestors chasing tumbling signs for metres down the road.

 

‘Poverty trap’ keeps Nunavummiut in tragic conditions

A Canadian Bar Association gathering in Iqaluit last week included some frank discussion on the state of affairs in Nunavut. The theme of the meeting was "Nation-Building Under Land Claims Agreements, Treaties and Self-Government Agreements."

Former Auditor General of Canada Sheila Fraser, one of many prominent players who attended, says she was dismayed to learn there still aren't improvements on the implementation of Canadian land claims and treaties, even after several audits she conducted.

Adequate food not an option on social assistance

Health Canada has developed a 69-item grocery list that it considers essential for a healthy diet. Because food costs vary from province to province, even from city to town to rural areas, calculating whether people on welfare can afford a healthy diet can be complicated. A CBC News investigation shows, in most provinces, the money comes up short.

Nunavut food security protest in Iqaluit focuses on expired products

DAVID MURPHY: The exorbitant price of food in the North wasn’t the only thing Leesee Papatsie and her group of about a dozen supporters protested at an event in Iqaluit held June 14 across the street from the Northmart store.

Protestors fought turbulent winds that blew cardboard signs out of the hands of some sent hunched-over protestors chasing tumbling signs for metres down the road.

 

Take Action! Feeding My Family Campaign on the High Cost of Food

TAKE ACTION: Write to your MP about the high food costs in the north. Use Feeding My Family's template (see below) or write your own.

More info on Feeding my family website or Facebook page

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