00:00:01
Two moms in two Canadian
capitals, both shopping
00:00:05
from the same list.
00:00:06
No, you're not getting that toy.
00:00:08
[David] It's a Marketplace price
check to see who gets
00:00:11
the bigger bill.
00:00:12
If you think it costs you a
lot to put food on the table,
00:00:16
get ready for
some sticker shock.
00:00:21
Jo Ellen Pameolik is a
single mom with four kids,
00:00:25
and they like to eat.
00:00:27
[Jo Ellen] Like, this would
be gone in a day.
00:00:28
Honestly.
00:00:30
The 2-liter milk, it'd be gone
in one morning because
00:00:33
all of my kids eat cereal.
00:00:35
The juice that I bought,
it'd be gone within an evening.
00:00:41
It's freezing.
00:00:42
[David] Meagan Brisebois
knows what that's like.
00:00:48
I'm feeding four people,
two kids and ourselves.
00:00:51
I've got two
athletes in the house.
00:00:53
So, they eat a lot.
00:00:54
I'm constantly eating,
making meals and eating
00:00:57
as clean as I can.
00:00:59
[David] They've
got a lot in common,
00:01:01
but how 'bout
those grocery bills?
00:01:03
[Skype dial tone]
00:01:06
Hi, Meagan, how are you?
00:01:08
Hi.
Good, good, thanks.
00:01:09
How are you guys?
00:01:10
[David] Our two moms are
meeting for the first time,
00:01:12
online, ready to compare prices.
00:01:15
I want you to meet Jo Ellen.
00:01:17
Jo Ellen, this is Meg.
00:01:18
-Hi, Meagan.
-Hi, Jo Ellen.
00:01:19
-I'm Meagan.
-Meg, do you mind if we just
00:01:21
go through some of
the items there?
00:01:22
-Of course, no problem.
-Juice.
00:01:25
-Do you have--
-Tropicana.
00:01:27
-We have it too.
-All right.
00:01:29
What'd you pay?
00:01:30
I need to find it here.
00:01:31
Tropicana orange juice.
00:01:33
I paid $3.99.
00:01:36
But it was on sale.
00:01:37
So, I saved $1.30.
00:01:39
So, it's usually $5.29, you
got it on sale for $3.99.
00:01:43
Here it cost you?
00:01:45
$11.99.
00:01:46
No chance I would buy that.
00:01:48
That's crazy.
00:01:49
[♪♪]
00:01:52
[David] Crazy doesn't end there.
00:01:53
How much did you
pay for your pickles?
00:01:55
$5.39, and I thought
that was quite expensive.
00:02:01
I paid $9.99.
00:02:03
[David] And it
doesn't end at food.
00:02:05
Okay, let's talk about shampoo.
00:02:07
How much did you pay for that?
00:02:08
$5.99.
00:02:09
This one was $11.49.
00:02:13
That doesn't even make sense.
00:02:15
Like, I would-- my kids would
shower less often, maybe.
00:02:20
Okay, laundry detergent.
00:02:22
This one?
00:02:24
Yep.
00:02:25
[David] How much did you pay?
00:02:26
$17.99.
00:02:28
I paid $31.99.
00:02:31
Ouch.
00:02:32
[David] Ouch is right.
00:02:34
And then we also
bought a case of water.
00:02:36
We did, too.
00:02:37
And it was $4.49.
00:02:40
[Jo Ellen] For a 12-pack?
00:02:42
No, for 24.
00:02:45
I paid $29.95.
00:02:48
[♪♪]
00:02:50
What?
00:02:52
[David] Tally it up, and
Jo Ellen pays twice as much
00:02:54
for the same basket of goods.
00:02:57
The only difference?
00:02:58
Meagan lives in Winnipeg.
00:03:04
Jo Ellen lives 2,000
kilometres north here,
00:03:07
in Iqaluit.
00:03:14
Where high prices
are a fact of life,
00:03:17
and efforts to beat them are
as constant as the tundra.
00:03:21
[man] I'll follow you, dear.
00:03:24
[♪♪]
00:03:27
[David] Just check out the
local post office.
00:03:29
It looks more like a
warehouse for Amazon.
00:03:35
Almost everyone up here who
can, does order at least some
00:03:38
groceries online.
00:03:40
It's way cheaper.
00:03:45
We order our rice, our
cereal, our detergent,
00:03:48
our garbage bags,
our cleaning supplies.
00:03:51
All of those items, the majority
of people from Iqaluit purchase
00:03:56
their items from Amazon.
00:03:58
But not everyone
across the north have that.
00:04:01
Because it's not
available to them?
00:04:02
No, it's not available to them.
00:04:06
[David] No matter
how you cut it,
00:04:07
food is hard to come by in
Canada's North and that's why
00:04:11
it's so expensive.
00:04:14
Andy and Matti, there's
another pan of potatoes here...
00:04:16
[David] Here at the
local high school,
00:04:18
teacher Lael Kronick runs a
lunch program every other day.
00:04:22
I'm a food studies teacher, and
so in our class we end up having
00:04:26
lots of discussions about
food insecurity and some
00:04:29
of the issues students are
experiencing in the school
00:04:32
and across Nunavut.
00:04:34
[David] Food insecurity, the
state of being without
00:04:37
reliable access to
sufficient, affordable,
00:04:40
nutritious food.
00:04:43
Seven out of ten kids in
Nunavut go to bed hungry.
00:04:49
Don't be stingy with the cheese.
00:04:50
Give everybody a lot of cheese.
00:04:53
[David] For many
of these students,
00:04:54
today's menu of caribou poutine
and a salad is the best meal
00:04:57
they'll have all day.
00:05:00
We can't expect students to be
successful in school if they're
00:05:04
hungry while they're here.
00:05:05
And this is a way we can both
feed students where they
00:05:08
already are, and
teach food skills.
00:05:14
[David] Back at Jo Ellen's,
she's hoping our little pricing
00:05:17
test might help make a point.
00:05:19
It hurts to know that a
child my daughter's age,
00:05:24
who's only five, is
actually hungry.
00:05:29
It hurts.
00:05:30
I can't imagine,
and that's my daughter.
00:05:34
But it's the majority of kids in
Nunavut who are hungry.
00:05:38
-I love you.
-I love you.
00:05:42
Does it feel like
it's Canada for you?
00:05:44
No, it's not.
00:05:47
I feel like we're
our own country,
00:05:50
where most of Canadians
don't pay attention to us.
00:05:56
Or they don't understand,
or they don't know anything
00:05:59
about us.
00:06:00
[David] If you're wondering what
our government is doing about
00:06:03
all this...
00:06:04
[female voice] Buying groceries
in the north can be expensive
00:06:06
for isolated communities
that must rely on food
00:06:09
being flown in.
00:06:10
[David] A program called
Nutrition North Canada
00:06:12
is supposed to make food
like meat and milk,
00:06:15
fruits and veggies,
more affordable.
00:06:17
[female voice] From now on,
when looking at your receipt,
00:06:19
you will know exactly what
savings are passed on to you.
00:06:24
[David] Those subsidies
were just increased to nearly
00:06:26
$100 million a year.
00:06:29
And they do figure in
to our price check.
00:06:31
For instance, the Tropicana that
costs three times as much
00:06:35
costs even more without
Nutrition North.
00:06:38
The ground beef costs
the same as in the south,
00:06:41
thanks to those subsidies
which also lower the price
00:06:43
of broccoli, peppers,
and, especially, milk.
00:06:47
Problem is, most products
are not subsidized.
00:06:51
Did you get applesauce?
00:06:53
I got this, Mott's.
00:06:54
How much did you pay for that?
00:06:56
$2.99.
00:06:58
[Jo Ellen chuckles]
00:06:59
I bought the exact
same one, exact same one,
00:07:04
I paid $9.49.
00:07:08
Could have bought four.
00:07:11
[David] Under the Nutrition
North program when there are
00:07:14
subsidies, they're usually given
directly to the grocery stores.
00:07:18
And in these parts,
Northmart is the biggest,
00:07:21
owned by the Northwest Company.
00:07:23
Stores receive tens of millions
of dollars every year
00:07:26
in taxpayer money creating a lot
of suspicion about why prices
00:07:31
are still so high.
00:07:33
[Singing]
00:07:36
[Cheering]
00:07:37
[♪♪]
00:07:39
[David] Local Juno award
nominees, The Jerry Cans,
00:07:42
wrote a song about it.
00:07:44
[Singing]
00:07:57
[Singing]
00:08:09
[David] The company that
owns Northmart says
00:08:12
they're not ripping
off anyone...
00:08:14
[Cellphone ringing]
00:08:19
Hi, Derek, how are you?
00:08:20
[David] Derek Reimer is the
director of business development
00:08:23
at the Northwest Company.
00:08:24
We ask him repeatedly for
an on-camera interview,
00:08:27
but he'll only
talk to us by phone.
00:08:29
What are the factors that go
into making food prices high
00:08:31
in the north?
00:08:40
[David] And, he says, there's
the huge cost of running their
00:08:43
stores and warehouses.
00:08:55
[David] But given
all the suspicion,
00:08:56
we ask analysts to dig into
Northwest's public records
00:08:59
and it seems subsidies
are passed on to shoppers.
00:09:02
And the company's profits,
about 4 cents on every dollar,
00:09:05
are about the same as
other major grocery chains.
00:09:12
[David] Tell that to
people like Jo Ellen.
00:09:14
Every family should be able to,
just like any other Canadian,
00:09:20
walk into a store
and buy $3 milk
00:09:24
and a $3 box of cereal,
so your kid can
00:09:28
eat in the morning.
00:09:30
[♪♪]
00:09:32
[David] To understand
the animosity,
00:09:34
know where it's coming from.
00:09:37
The Inuit are some of the
strongest people on earth.
00:09:40
Surviving more than
a thousand years in one of
00:09:43
its harshest climates.
00:09:45
But after the second World War,
the federal government began
00:09:48
forcing Inuit to give
up their nomadic ways.
00:09:51
Settling them in new communities
with alien systems of education,
00:09:55
healthcare and economics.
00:09:59
Jobs were scarce,
and many became dependent
00:10:02
on social assistance.
00:10:06
There's so many amazing
things that people do here.
00:10:09
[David] Pauline Pemik is a
CBC colleague who works
00:10:12
here in Iqaluit.
00:10:13
She's heard what southerners
say about life in the North.
00:10:16
Why do they live there,
why don't they move?
00:10:19
-Why are they trying?
-You do hear that.
00:10:20
You hear people say that,
particularly in the south.
00:10:22
And my answer to
that is, it's our home.
00:10:25
It's where we live.
00:10:27
It's not that we can just up and
go and make a new life
00:10:31
somewhere else.
00:10:33
These people are
ingrained in their environment,
00:10:37
the wildlife, the nature.
00:10:40
I mean, Iqaluit
wasn't even a city.
00:10:42
It was built by the federal
government and then Inuit
00:10:45
ended up maintaining it.
00:10:46
So, we didn't even-- we ended up
taking something that we didn't
00:10:50
even want to take care of but
it ended up on our hands so now
00:10:54
we're here and I think that
there's a lot of struggles
00:10:58
but at the same time Inuit
really persevere through that,
00:11:03
and they do it together.
00:11:06
[David] Still, it's a
legacy of distrust.
00:11:09
With some of the poorest people
in Canada paying some of
00:11:12
the highest food prices.
00:11:18
[David] This is
your Marketplace.
00:11:22
[♪♪]
00:11:24
[David] We're north of the tree
line, in Iqaluit getting
00:11:27
ready for a hunt.
00:11:29
-I just bought this yesterday.
-You just bought this yesterday?
00:11:33
So, don't break it!
00:11:35
[David] For Inuit, country
food as they call it,
00:11:38
seal, caribou, arctic char, is
central to their culture
00:11:41
and way of life.
00:11:43
And so is sharing it.
00:11:45
But as we head
out on the sea ice,
00:11:47
there are no guarantees.
00:11:49
So now it's just a waiting game.
00:11:51
A waiting game.
00:11:52
With anything you catch?
00:11:54
I give everything away.
00:11:55
You give everything away?
00:11:56
That's how we were raised, we
share everything that we catch.
00:12:01
[David] Northern Food may
be the preferred option,
00:12:03
but a lot of people up here are
forced to rely on southern-owned
00:12:07
grocery stores.
00:12:08
Where food prices can be twice
what they are in the south,
00:12:11
even with $100 million a year
in federal subsidies
00:12:16
from Nutrition North.
00:12:20
Many Inuit are struggling
to make ends meet.
00:12:24
Folks like Tommy Kelly,
an artist,
00:12:26
hoping to sell his carvings
at CBC's office in Iqaluit .
00:12:29
Everybody's waiting
for payday, Tommy.
00:12:34
Oh, my goodness,
these are beautiful.
00:12:36
So, this is how
you make your money?
00:12:37
-Yeah.
-Okay.
00:12:39
I've been carving since
I was seven-years-old.
00:12:42
Carving since you
were seven-years-old.
00:12:43
My first one was a small seal,
and I sold it for 25 bucks.
00:12:47
Oh, wow.
00:12:48
And I bought three grocery bags.
00:12:50
You bought three grocery bags
with the first thing
00:12:52
you ever carved?
00:12:53
-Yeah.
-Wow.
00:12:55
It was awesome.
00:12:56
[David] The numbers
in Nunavut are stark.
00:12:59
The average cost of groceries
for a family is $23,904 a year.
00:13:05
And yet, nearly 40% of Inuit
adults earn less than
00:13:09
$20,000 annually.
00:13:11
Combine that with rents between
$3,000 and $7,000 dollars
00:13:15
a month, and the concept of food
insecurity becomes very real.
00:13:21
[♪♪]
00:13:26
I'm just gonna watch you
do it, if that's alright.
00:13:27
Yeah, yeah.
00:13:29
[David] Sheila Lumsden is
more fortunate than many,
00:13:31
putting food on the table.
00:13:33
This is our traditional food
and we get satiated with--
00:13:38
by not only our stomachs,
but with our spirit, as well.
00:13:42
[David] She's invited us
for a feast of country food,
00:13:45
including some ooyook,
or boiled seal meat.
00:13:47
I did manage to find ribs,
but I was saying to my Weeksuk,
00:13:53
my fiancé, is that there's
hardly any uksuk, fat.
00:13:59
Normally when we make
ooyook, we like more fat
00:14:06
with the meat and you'll see
why once we cook it.
00:14:11
You're saying to me one of the
reasons you hunt and use country
00:14:15
food, harvest country food,
is to stay in touch with your
00:14:19
history and be
part of your culture.
00:14:21
Mmm-hmm.
00:14:23
But when you look at what
groceries cost here compared to
00:14:25
how much people make, does that
also play into the calculation?
00:14:29
Most definitely.
00:14:31
What's been ingrained
in me from my father,
00:14:35
is the desire to not only
eat well but be mindful
00:14:40
to not spend too much
money on food.
00:14:46
Okay.
00:14:50
This is the Louis Vuitton
of arctic luggage,
00:14:54
Rubbermaid action packers.
00:14:55
[Laughter]
00:14:57
[David] Sheila is a good example
of the lengths people go
00:15:00
to avoid northern prices
with regular trips to Ottawa
00:15:04
to stock up.
00:15:05
Have a good flight!
00:15:06
-Thank you.
-You're welcome.
00:15:09
[David] And a heavy
dependence on Amazon...
00:15:12
Okay, what's in here?
00:15:14
-Rice?
-Amazon.
00:15:15
Rice is coming from Amazon.
00:15:18
Peppercorns?
00:15:20
Usually Amazon,
but because I had room
00:15:23
in my luggage, Loblaws.
-Loblaws.
00:15:25
-Let me go to your fridge.
-Oh, okay.
00:15:28
Ketchup?
00:15:29
Amazon.
00:15:30
HP sauce?
00:15:32
Amazon.
00:15:34
What's going on that a
company-- like a big,
00:15:39
multi-national
company like Amazon,
00:15:41
is the one making some groceries
and other items more affordable
00:15:46
for you here than the actual
program designed to do that by
00:15:49
the federal government?
00:15:51
I don't know.
00:15:53
I know, it's-- I
don't know what to say.
00:15:56
I don't know how to respond.
00:15:57
I just-- I love Amazon.
00:16:02
[David] It also helps to be
partners with a good hunter.
00:16:06
The last time I had
caribou was in Tuktoyaktuk.
00:16:10
[David] While we wait
for the seal ribs to cook,
00:16:12
Sheila's fiancé Johnny carves
us an appetizer of caribou.
00:16:16
Yeah, try that first
like-- try it by itself.
00:16:21
That's refreshing.
00:16:23
Like, to see a kabuanak
man enjoy the taste of our
00:16:29
traditional food.
00:16:31
The history in the north,
a proud history,
00:16:33
hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of years of surviving--
00:16:37
Mmm-hmm.
00:16:39
--under very difficult
conditions, what goes through
00:16:42
your mind when you look today
that there are people
00:16:45
who can't feed themselves?
00:16:49
It pisses me off.
00:16:51
Yeah.
00:16:52
It really does piss me off.
00:16:54
And I don't know if I can
say that on TV--
00:16:56
You sure can.
00:16:57
But yeah, it upsets me greatly.
00:17:02
[David] Back on the sea ice,
they joke that harvesting seal
00:17:06
is another form of
grocery shopping.
00:17:08
[♪♪]
00:17:11
[David] And it certainly
can be as expensive.
00:17:14
So, what do you pay for?
00:17:15
You pay for gas...
00:17:16
Gas.
00:17:17
How much does a
skidoo cost for you here?
00:17:19
-$15,000.
-Bullets cost?
00:17:21
$30 to $40 dollars.
00:17:23
Do you have to buy
or build a--
00:17:25
About over $1,000 dollars
to build the--
00:17:28
[Speaking Indigenous Language].
00:17:30
[David] The federal government
knew it needed to do more
00:17:32
to lower food costs.
00:17:34
And so, it's just revamped the
Nutrition North program with new
00:17:38
grants to help hunters
pay for their harvesting,
00:17:41
higher subsidies for more food
products and even a few non-food
00:17:45
items, like diapers.
00:17:49
But many here know it's
still not enough to solve
00:17:53
food insecurity.
00:17:54
And if not, why not?
00:17:56
In a country where accessible,
nutritious food seems like
00:18:00
a basic right.
00:18:04
[David] This is
your Marketplace.
00:18:06
[♪♪]
00:18:09
[David] The brutal beauty of
Nunavut speaks to the hard life
00:18:12
of many who live here.
00:18:17
Food is expensive to
harvest and costly to buy,
00:18:20
even with a hundred million
in federal subsidies
00:18:23
from Nutrition North.
00:18:25
And with seven out of ten
kids going to bed hungry,
00:18:29
food insecurity is now at its
highest level since they started
00:18:33
keeping track.
00:18:37
We're in Ottawa to ask why
isn't more being done about it?
00:18:43
Hi, how are you, I'm David.
00:18:45
Hi David, Yvonne.
Nice to meet you.
00:18:47
[David] Yvonne Jones is a
liberal MP from Labrador.
00:18:50
There's Cape Saint Louis,
there's Mary's Harbour.
00:18:52
Okay, so this is
where I grew up,
00:18:55
and today I live
here in Goose Bay.
00:18:58
[David] Jones has been asked by
Prime Minister Trudeau to help
00:19:01
find a way forward
on food security.
00:19:06
Part of the solution for the
federal government has been this
00:19:08
Nutrition North subsidy, it's
been around for eight years
00:19:12
and in that time the needle's
actually gone the other way,
00:19:15
that the hunger has
actually got worse.
00:19:18
So why should anybody have
confidence that Nutrition North
00:19:20
remains any part of
the solution now?
00:19:22
Nutrition North
is one component,
00:19:26
and that is where the
problem has been in the past.
00:19:29
So, it is a problem,
it's been a problem,
00:19:31
Nutrition North
has been an issue.
00:19:33
No, Nutrition North
is one component,
00:19:36
the problem has been thinking
that Nutrition North alone
00:19:40
could fix food insecurity.
00:19:43
It can't fix food
insecurity alone.
00:19:46
There has to be an accumulation
of programs and services
00:19:50
that accompany it, and this is
where governments in the past,
00:19:53
in my opinion, have failed.
00:19:55
But you've been part of the
government for four years now.
00:19:57
This is still a problem.
00:19:59
It is still a problem, but it's
one that's getting addressed,
00:20:02
and I think that's the
key piece right now.
00:20:04
One of the things we heard in
the north was about what is
00:20:07
covered by Nutrition North.
00:20:09
Why subsidize something
like an exotic dragon fruit,
00:20:12
but not toilet paper?
00:20:14
That's a good question,
it's a really good question,
00:20:17
and I always-- I have always
said it's not necessary
00:20:20
to people who live in the north
who're going to eat the exotic
00:20:24
kiwi fruit, but they're going to
need to have access to personal
00:20:27
hygiene products, they're
going to need to have access
00:20:30
to diapers for their kids.
00:20:32
[David] That's why the list now
includes a few non-food items.
00:20:35
And government is investing
more in infrastructure
00:20:38
and innovation, while
promising more to come.
00:20:41
Nutrition North cannot
be a stagnant program.
00:20:44
It has to be an
evolving program.
00:20:46
If we're not
prepared to do that,
00:20:48
we are going to fail.
00:20:49
-And despite all our best--
-Failure's a bad option here.
00:20:53
Absolutely.
00:20:54
Failure means people go hungry.
00:20:56
And they are going hungry.
00:20:57
People are going hungry.
00:20:59
What do you think, you're
in government and you
00:21:01
are saying that?
00:21:02
Because I'd be lying if
I didn't recognize it.
00:21:06
[David] We'll be tracking her
promises, and those prices,
00:21:09
back here on Baffin Island
where innovation is already
00:21:12
taking hold.
00:21:14
I think it's really neat, like
there's so many different
00:21:16
plants, like, everywhere!
00:21:18
I love it!
00:21:20
[David] The next generation
trying the next thing.
00:21:22
[♪♪]
00:21:24
There's all these
cool looking puffy ones,
00:21:26
all different types of kale,
it's a good variety of food.
00:21:30
And if you were to go to the
store and buy something
00:21:32
like this instead?
00:21:33
Super expensive
and not as fresh.
00:21:36
Like, we get to try food that
they don't even ship up here
00:21:38
because we grow them ourselves.
-That's really cool.
00:21:41
[♪♪]
00:21:46
[♪♪]
