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16 Tuesday June 2 2015 Maries friends and family are Relaying because Marie has cancer. WHO WILL YOU RELAY FOR By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Northern New Democrat MPs are pushing for an additional 46 communities to imme- diately be given full subsidies under the fed- eral food subsidy program Nutrition North. The program which provides subsidies to Northern retailers to be passed on to custom- ers with reduced prices on eligible grocery items will be up for debate in the House of Commons this week marking the rst time the livelihoods of Northerners have been ad- dressed in that context by Parliament accord- ing to NWT MP Dennis Bevington. It will be the rst time weve had a debate on Northern living conditions in the time Ive been here he said. Weve had debates on environmental legislation and devolution but never anything on the people of the North and their condition so thats kind of exciting. Bevington said the NDP wants to see a full review of the program undertaken following an unattering report by the Auditor Gen- eral last fall that showed a lack of monitoring by government to ensure the food subsidies were actually being passed on to Northern customers. But until that review is done he said at least 46 identied Northern commu- nities should be given the full subsidy under the program. NDP wants 46 communities added to Nutrition North Those communities include Lutsel Ke Whati Wekweeti Gameti and Nahanni Butte in the Northwest Territories and Fort Chipewyan in Alberta all of which either re- ceive no subsidy or are on the list for a par- tial subsidy but whose residents received between 0 and 10 worth of savings on their annual purchases in 2013-14. Sev- eral dozen other communities in northern Ontario Manitoba and Saskatchewan are also identied by the NDP for eligibility in the program. Despite their location in isolated North- ern areas of the country those communi- ties are currently left out because they did not previously subscribe to the now defunct Food Mail program according to Beving- ton despite requirements that the Nutrition North program and its list of communities be reviewed annually. Thats like saying you didnt le for your GST rebate this year so you can never get it he said. Theres no reason they shouldnt consider them for the program other than money. Im sure thats whats holding them back. By NDP estimates the cost of giving full subsidies to the 46 additional communities would be 7.6 million. The difference in savings between com- munities that get the full subsidy and those that do not is evident. A comparison done between Lutsel Ke and Kuujjuaq in north- ern Quebec shows that those in Kuujjuaq which receives the full subsidy pay about half as much for things like milk eggs juice and potatoes than they do in the y-in NWT community where residents saved just 9.86 cents each through a partial subsidy in the 2013-14 scal year. In Lutsel Ke they received 2900 for the whole community. Thats 10 per person. And theyre on the list for a partial subsidy. I mean give me a break Bevington said. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Develop- ment AANDC Minister Bernard Valcourt responded that he nds it interesting Bev- ington should want additional communities included under Nutrition North considering his criticisms of the program. Mr. Chair that member is confused. On the one hand he says that the program does not work and then he says that we should bring it to other communities. He should make up his mind as to whether or not the program works Valcourt told Commit- tee of the Whole on May 13 when Beving- ton grilled the department on a number of Northern issues. The fact of the matter is that we have al- ready indicated that we are examining the criteria for admissibility under the program in order to reect the needs issue which the Auditor General indicated in his report and which we have accepted as a recommenda- tion Valcourt said. Bevington said the NDP supports an over- haul of the program being carried out fol- lowing consultation with Northerners. He said there exist many options that would put subsidies directly in the pockets of con- sumers such as the electronic swipe cards found in similar subsidy programs used by low income families in the U.S. Such sys- tems he added would improve the ability of government to monitor the success of the program by collecting community-specic data on spending and savings. We will not pick any system until we do a full review with consultation Bevington said. Thats the proper way to do things. The NDP plans to table a petition support- ing its request during the Opposition Day debate this week. Estimated cost of full subsidy by community Money currently received Annual cost of full subsidy Community per capita for community Fort Chipewyan Alta. .................................... 0................................................................. 211750 Gameti NT .............................................................. 0................................................................386250 Lutsel Ke NT.................................................9.86.................................................................218341 Nahanni Butte NT............................................ 0.................................................................189750 Wekweeti NT........................................................ 0................................................................301500 Whati NT ...........................................................0.01.................................................................105749 HEALTH WELLNESS NUTRITION