Evidence of meeting #11 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was yukon.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:55 a.m.
Director General, Northern Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Oh, boy. I think, if the chair will allow it, I'd be happy to provide a written response to that question, because there is a fairly comprehensive response to those recommendations.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
That would be absolutely fine, and that brings us to time. Thanks very much.
To all witnesses, for anything that's missing, please submit written material.
Ms. Blaney, you have two and a half minutes. Go ahead.
Noon
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you.
I'd like to go back and finish off my question with Ms. Trifonopoulos.
Could you just talk about the health outcomes? I was asking earlier about health and well-being and harvesting off the land, and I'm wondering how health outcomes are measured and how you work with the communities to make sure that this is carefully monitored and shared with the community.
Noon
Senior Manager, Healthy Living, Population Health and Wellness Division, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Indigenous Services
That's a very important question.
What impact do the various services and programs have? I think one of the promising things is in supporting more indigenous-led data collection through things like the first nations regional health survey. Inuit are working on the comprehensive Inuit health survey, which I think is just in the beginning stages. Included in these surveys are measures on a variety of social and health outcomes.
In terms of some of the other impacts, we measure in the short term things that look promising toward improved health, such as increased knowledge and skills gained. It depends on the service being provided to communities and to what extent. At the same time, we are trying to minimize reporting and we encourage a lot of flexibility in the funds.
Really, those broader indigenous-led data initiatives are where the most promise is in collecting data on those medium-term to longer-term health outcomes.
Noon
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you.
My next question is this: How do we compare on-the-land initiatives to Nutrition North? Do we need to correlate these more closely? When people are out on the land gathering healthy food and bringing it home, how does it work with Nutrition North? Is one or the other more effective?
Noon
Director General, Northern Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
That's a great question.
One of the things we'll be looking at in the long term is the impact that harvesting has on the need to buy food in a store. The assumption is that if we are successful through the harvesters support grant, there will be less reliance on store-bought food for similar items, and we should actually see a decrease in sales in those items in retail because they're being supplemented by harvesting—
Noon
Director General, Northern Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
So that's it.
Noon
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
—but we're pretty much out of time.
I want to thank our witnesses so much. Once again, there is so much detail. Anything that needs to be supplemented can certainly be done by written testimony, which you can send in to us if you wish or if members of the committee need more information on any of those subjects.
We have three other witnesses in the next panel. To keep us on time, we're going to suspend now.
Once again, thanks again so much to our witnesses.
We are suspended for about three minutes to set up our next panel.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
We will call this meeting back to order as we continue our study of food security in northern communities.
For our panellists, I have a reminder. You should look to the bottom centre of your screen. There's a globe there. By clicking on that globe, you will be able to select either “English” or “French”. If you don't, you may not get the translation, so if it's the language of your choice that you are going to speak in and listen to, select that in the globe. That is usually the one little stumbling block we encounter as we organize our meetings.
That said, with us today by video conference for the second hour are the following witnesses: Lindsay Turner, director of poverty reduction, department of family services, Government of Nunavut; Tracy St. Denis, assistant deputy minister for economic development in the department of industry, tourism and investment, Government of the Northwest Territories; and Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources Ranj Pillai, Government of Yukon.
Welcome to all three. I invite the witnesses to make their opening statements of up to six minutes.
Lindsay Turner, could you begin now? You have six minutes.
December 8th, 2020 / 12:05 p.m.
Lindsay Turner Director, Poverty Reduction Division, Government of Nunavut
Ulaakut. Qujannamiik, Mr. Chair, for today's invitation to speak to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs about food security in Nunavut.
As mentioned, my name is Lindsay. I am the mother of three young boys. I have lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut, since 2011. I have been filling the role of the director of poverty reduction since 2015, as well as, in partnership with Nunavut Tunngavik, the role of co-chair of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition.
According to the 2017 Canadian community health survey, 79% of Nunavut's children live in food-insecure households, and 57% of households in the territory are food insecure.
The Nunavut food security action plan speaks about how “Nunavummiut have a long-standing intricate knowledge of how to obtain, store, prepare, and consume country food.” “The Makimaniq Plan 2”, Nunavut’s shared approach to poverty reduction, speaks about how, in traditional Inuit society, “there was a...well established...system of parents and grandparents passing knowledge along to children.” However, today, much of this has been broken as the result of federal colonial policies from the 1950s and 1960s, including relocation into communities, relocation to the High Arctic, residential schools, tuberculosis interventions and sled dog killings.
As a result, today there is a lot of concern that country food skills are not being passed to younger generations and that similar skills related to store-bought food are not being acquired.
Food insecurity in Nunavut is complex, and the required solutions and supports are wide-ranging, from hunting and harvesting supports and infrastructure, to fisheries and marine infrastructure, to airport and cargo infrastructure, to mental health and addictions, to housing, to local workforce development, to a strengthened not-for-profit sector, to community food infrastructure, to nutrition, and to financial, life and food skills.
However, today I will focus my remarks on just a few of these: the importance of country food, the importance of sharing food, community food infrastructure gaps that exist in Nunavut, and current goals to build the capacity of community food organizations.
In 2019, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association published “Food Sovereignty and Harvesting” and called for a shift from thinking about food security to thinking about food sovereignty and empowering Inuit to feed their own communities and control their food systems and supply. Country food is not only nutritious; it also plays a critical cultural and healing role in Nunavut communities. The support of young hunter mentorship programs; increased resources for hunter and trapper organizations and community freezers; supports to cover the high prices of gas and hunting and cold weather necessities and supplies; and skill-building opportunities and tools to be able to repair ski-doos and build komatiks are all ways that access to country food can be improved.
The Nunavut food security action plan highlights the critical role that community-based programs play in supporting food sharing and in strengthening connections within communities, as well as in contributing to the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations such as children, single parents and elders. Indeed, a rich diversity of community-based programming and resources has been developed within Nunavut. However, many of our conversations with community food organizations and community members have emphasized the fragile nature of these operations. Many struggle to access the various applications for funding and to even find space in which to run their programs, and their initiatives are ad hoc and come and go without consistent staff and community member availability to provide on-the-ground coordination.
The vision of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition is to foster the development and growth of community food organizations that are able to sustain more comprehensive, innovative, culturally appropriate and sustainable food system projects and life skills projects. To realize this, there is a need for more start-up supports, capacity-strengthening opportunities, multi-year and core funding, and access to reliable community social infrastructure.
I would also like to share how the design of many federal programs intended to address food insecurity in the north have made it difficult, if not impossible, for Nunavut communities to access funding for their priority needs.
Recent changes to the Nutrition North Canada program, new initiatives announced by Agriculture Canada under the national food policy, and recent COVID-19 emergency food security investments have all been welcomed in Nunavut. However, all of these programs could have been designed and delivered in ways that could have had a greater and more sustainable impact in Nunavut and that could better meet Nunavut's priorities.
Cost-matching criteria, language and Internet barriers, eligible and ineligible costs, and contributions and maximum funding levels that do not take into account either the high costs of the north or the capacity and infrastructure deficits of the north are but some examples of the challenges faced. Programs designed within the Nunavut context could go a long way to supporting food sovereignty in Nunavut's communities.
There has also been, more recently, concern that the funding that has been made available this past year to meet the urgency of COVID-19 will not be sustained to meet what has been long-standing urgency of unacceptable food insecurity levels in Nunavut.
In closing, I would like to share with you an excerpt from Makimaniq Plan 2's definition of poverty in Nunavut:
Many Inuit today have successfully bridged two worlds—life on the land, and life in the settlements—but many others have not. Those who have not require more support to meet their basic needs, to acquire the knowledge and skills to live either a traditional or a modern way of life or a mix of both, and to participate fully and take leadership in the decisions that affect their lives.
Qujannamiik, Mr. Chair. Taima.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
Thank you very much. You are right on six minutes.
I'll just repeat that we need you to speak slowly and clearly, but please hurry up, because you have only six minutes. That's our dilemma. I apologize for that.
Next we have the assistant deputy minister of economic development, industry, tourism and investment for the Government of the Northwest Territories, Tracy St. Denis.
12:10 p.m.
Tracy St. Denis Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Development Industry, Tourism and Investment, Government of the Northwest Territories
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will try to be quick but clear.
Thank you and good morning. I appreciate the opportunity to present the Northwest Territories' position on this important matter.
I am pleased to be speaking to you from the traditional lands of the Yellowknives Dene, Chief Drygeese territory.
The Government of the Northwest Territories is keenly aware of the importance of food security, especially with the pandemic making it more of a serious issue around the world.
In the Northwest Territories, we have numerous small communities with issues of geography, transportation and access. During these challenging times, these vulnerable populations critically need our assistance with health, safety and security.
Our government's mandate is to increase food security through locally produced, harvested and affordable food. Increased local food production can support the GNWT's goal to improve food security across the territory.
Our government is focused on practical solutions to increasing food security through several priority projects. These include a plan to review and amend a regulatory framework to remove barriers that impede NWT residents from developing food production businesses; implementing a meat inspection regulatory framework for locally produced and sold products, specifically meat products; working to strengthen the territorial support for indigenous governments to develop and deliver culturally appropriate harvester support programs, including a harvester mentorship program; reviewing our northern food development program to ensure territorial food security supports are provided for greenhouses and community gardens; committing to working with indigenous and community governments to recommend improvements to the Nutrition North program; and finally, planning the construction of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency-approved fish plant in Hay River that will give our local fishers, who are largely indigenous, more autonomy over their sector. This will shift the commercial fishers from being price-takers to being price-setters with the Northwest Territories trout, whitefish and pickerel, which are our premium cold-water subarctic products.
The GNWT recognizes that a great deal of interjurisdictional co-operation is necessary to achieve food security throughout the territory. Food insecurity, when experienced, touches every aspect of people's lives, particularly affecting health and education outcomes. To mitigate these issues, we have continued partnerships with indigenous governments and the federal government to identify potential pathways to move forward collaboratively.
One of the ways we are doing this is working closely with Second Harvest and Food Banks Canada to connect them directly with indigenous governments and organizations delivering food charity in the NWT.
We have also worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. When meat shortages were first identified as a concern by grocers early in the lockdown, we were extremely appreciative of the fast action undertaken by the federal government to negotiate and sign an MOU for the temporary ministerial exemption process to allow for interprovincial trade of meat and poultry products from establishments that are not federally licensed.
The NWT understands the pressure and responsibility placed on the federal government over the past several months. The vulnerabilities exposed by lockdowns have resulted in devastation for cities across Canada, but have also stimulated opportunities for innovative approaches. The north has always had innovative solutions to issues by necessity. Supporting and sustaining communities separated by distance and culture has created unique partnerships and a dependence on one another to help the territory thrive as a whole.
As we review the potential options for developing solutions to gaps in food security, we know this can only be accomplished with partnerships at the community, territorial and federal levels. Federal government support for vulnerable populations and food security throughout the pandemic has been crucial for the well-being and security of northerners. We have been able to assist residents of our communities more quickly and effectively with that support, but we know there's more to be done. We are hopeful the federal government will remain one of our committed partners as we focus efforts on the development of strategic approaches to strengthen certainty in the territory to fulfill our mandate to both grow and process food locally.
Food sovereignty is of particular importance to the territory's indigenous population. It would be beneficial to talk to those indigenous governments directly; I'm not sure if there are plans in the works to do so, but please let us know if we can be of assistance in making those connections.
We are already running and further developing programs to build capacity in territorial food production sectors. Programs training youth in traditional harvesting, agriculture and fishing will ensure that traditional practices are preserved and sustained. These actions will increase local purchasing options at a lower cost for people throughout the NWT, which will in turn reduce the territory's reliance on national and international supply chains. We're not quite there. However, we do continue to work with our partners to monitor the resiliency of supply chains.
The strengthening of local food sectors and increased access to traditionally harvested foods will be the keys to making real and meaningful progress. This will also create jobs and strengthen the economy, which will contribute to a positive feedback loop, which will be important to achieving territorial food security.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
Thank you very much.
As much as I complain about the technology, it's really amazing to think that we've gone from Nunavut to the Northwest Territories, and now we're going to Yukon with our next witness, Mr. Pillai.
Please go ahead for six minutes.
12:20 p.m.
Ranj Pillai Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Yukon
Thank you to the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs for inviting me to speak today. I am joining you from the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta'an Kwäch'än Council.
As I am the minister responsible for agriculture in Yukon, matters of food security are of significant importance to me and to Yukoners. I'd like to set the stage by recalling a moment from several years ago. In June of 2012, heavy rains caused a series of mudslides and washouts along the Alaska Highway, severing Yukon's only road link to southern Canada. While the highway was down for only a few days, produce sections in Whitehorse supermarkets were diminished to just radishes and coconuts. Shelves quickly became bare across many of our communities. It was at this moment that many Yukoners became truly familiarized with the term “food security”.
Yukon is not unique when it comes to our fragile connection to food supply in the north. I'm sure you've heard many similar stories and descriptions of this tenuous link from my northern counterparts and friends.
With that, the important message I hope to convey to you today is twofold. First, I am very encouraged that this topic is being heard by the committee today. It tells me that this is an important national concern. Second, I will focus the remainder of my remarks on how Yukon is making incredible strides to address food security in a way that not only helps keep our shelves stocked but also grows an important part of our local economy.
This past summer, the Government of Yukon launched “Cultivating Our Future”, our 2020 Yukon agricultural policy. This new policy will guide Yukon's agricultural industry over the next decade and increase the territory's ability to be more self-sufficient in food production.
The vision of our new policy is to increase food self-sufficiency for Yukon, support production of high-quality products, contribute to our local economy and leave positive cultural and environmental legacies for future generations. With easily disrupted southern supply chains and limited food production, our new policy seeks to decrease reliance on southern imports. This can be done by increasing local food production and consumption by supporting infrastructure development and Yukon-grown marketing initiatives.
Yukon's agriculture and agri-food industry is a key part of our Yukon life and has been a growing part of our economy since the Klondike gold rush. While improvements in transportation have resulted in importing much of our food from the south, Yukon farms continue to fulfill the important role of providing fresh, healthy products to feed our communities while keeping transportation greenhouse gas emissions low relative to imported food.
Over the last decade, the total amount of land under cultivation and the number of farms in Yukon have grown, along with livestock and vegetable production. According to the 2016 census on agriculture released by the Government of Canada, between 2011 and 2016 the number of farms increased by just over 9%, with over 142 farms in the territory. In 2016 total farm investments, including land, buildings, equipment and livestock, were reported at just over $100 million.
In addition, Yukon first nations and communities are taking the lead in food security through various community garden projects. Community gardens are allowing people to participate in gardening and are feeding their community members with fresh produce. First nations are also leading food security through farming education and community development. The Ta'an Kwäch'än first nation, with their working and teaching farm, won the Arctic Inspiration Prize for their work towards food security in 2019. Other Yukon first nations, such as Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the first nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, have working farms that support their communities as well.
Yukon farm operators specialize in a variety of products. including vegetables, livestock, fruit, dairy, eggs, honey, sod and bedding plants. Yukon producers breed and raise a variety of livestock, including cattle, pig, sheep, goats, horses, ponies, llamas, alpacas, rabbits, bison and elk. Producers also breed and raise a variety of poultry for meat, chicks and eggs. The territory's reliance on imported livestock is slowly decreasing, as more Yukon producers are starting to breed their own animals and are committed to year-round operations.
Yukoners are exploring different ways of extending the shelf life of their products and are producing a great variety and amount of stored vegetables, cut meats and such value-added products as preserves and jams. These products are found in large retail stores, community markets, and gourmet meals prepared by restaurants and caterers in Yukon's food service industry. In recent years, this growth in new products has expanded into new markets. Yukon farmers are finding success in selling their products both within and outside our local region.
Much of this incredible growth of Yukon's agricultural industry is due to the support of the Canadian agricultural partnership. Under this agreement, the Government of Canada commits to allocating $1.48 million to Yukon agriculture each year for five years until 2023. This funding amount includes the Government of Canada's in-kind contributions as well. Many agricultural projects are eligible for 60% funding, with the remainder coming from the individual farmer, meaning that the $1.48 million per year can trigger a large investment in our farm community.
The Canadian agricultural partnership supports our commitment to building a productive and profitable local agriculture industry and our ability to be more self-sufficient in food production. In the first two years of the Canadian agricultural partnership, over 315 projects have been supported to help develop agriculture in Yukon.
We are proud of our growing agriculture industry in Yukon, but we know there is a long way to go in terms of increasing our food security. In order to increase food security for Yukon, we require collaboration and partnership with the Government of Canada, Yukon first nation governments, municipal governments, stakeholder organizations and individual producers.
Thank you.
12:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
Thank you very much.
All of our presenters are right on time. Hopefully, that will continue, because we have a tremendous panel and a lot of questions to be asked, beginning with Mr. Viersen.
Arnold, you have six minutes. Go ahead.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here.
I am fascinated by Yukon and the farming that's going on up there. It's within spitting distance of where I'm from, so I'm a bit familiar with farming in the north.
Is the number of butcher shops in the Yukon a growing thing? That seems like something that our first nations communities would have expertise in as well, given the living off the land. I notice that in rural Alberta the number of butcher shops is decreasing. I'm just wondering where that's headed in Yukon.
12:25 p.m.
Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Yukon
It's an absolutely exciting time. It's really a renaissance of the agricultural industry. It's what many of the folks online here today would have seen in their home provinces a hundred years ago.
We're actually seeing an increase in butcher shops and in folks making a decision to leave work in the public service, maybe, or in the private sector and other areas, and going back and becoming trained in order to be able to open these shops.
In smaller communities such as Dawson City and Mayo and other smaller communities, we're now seeing investment by the private sector to open these shops. We also have a mobile abattoir that we use in some of our rural areas. We've shared that information with other jurisdictions, such as Newfoundland. It seems to be a good solution for some of this work.
Simply, to answer your question, we're seeing a couple of them opening almost each year, and we're using CAP funding for either infrastructure offsets or training offsets.
This year, to be very open with you, we had a very difficult time in keeping up with the demand we had, and that doesn't even take into consideration traditional foods, as you alluded to. During hunting season, there's still a big demand on a lot of those services, due to the many things that you can hunt in Yukon and harvest. We're going to see more of a push for even more of these operations to open.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Has there been a specific policy change that you have brought in? I know that in northern Alberta there's a frustration on the part of many of the small butcher shops around the layers of red tape that are required to maintain their operations. Has Yukon pursued a unique policy arrangement around butcher shops?
12:30 p.m.
Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Yukon
We're still in the early stages. We're working through dealing with our own departments through environmental health, which is key. I think it's really just been more of an interest; we're seeing people pivot towards this opportunity.
At a federal level, we're really looking to continue to have the support from the CFIA and others to make sure of this, because now we're moving into this larger production. We've had good support out of northern British Columbia from their representatives, and to date it has worked, but I think that as we move on, we're going to need to have a presence in Yukon from some of the federal representatives who are going to be able to help us when we have to be watching our operations on a pretty consistent basis to make sure we're meeting the guidelines that are laid out.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Moving to the Northwest Territories, is the situation similar there?
12:30 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Development Industry, Tourism and Investment, Government of the Northwest Territories
We work very closely with the Yukon government. Their agriculture sector is a little more developed than ours. We do have commercial operators here. We've seen through COVID the movement of food into grocery stores, which has been a big step. Our health department has done some regulatory changes that have allowed for that, and I mentioned in my opening comments that our government needs to do some work and is committed to doing work around meat regulations. We have been working with Yukon to find out what's working for them so that when we embark on having locally processed meats, poultry and traditional foods done here, we'll have a made-in-the-north situation that works for us.
Yes, it's on our radar and is definitely a key answer to our food insecurity issues.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Around meat production, I noticed when I was up in Nunavut a few years back that the number of geese that fly through there is incredible. Is that being used, and are you seeing, similar to the Yukon, a growth in butcher shops in Nunavut?
12:30 p.m.
Director, Poverty Reduction Division, Government of Nunavut
Nunavut is probably a little different. Within Nunavut there are three facilities like meat or fish processing facilities, one in each region.
Within Nunavut, if I could describe the equivalent in terms of butchering, once an animal has been caught out on the land, it would passing on the skills around how to cut properly and knowing the whole process of taking care of an animal once it's been caught. The concerns in Nunavut are more the lack of community infrastructure for doing that; places in a community where, once a catch has been brought back to the community, it can be prepared in the community. I'm thinking of community freezers and the young hunter mentorship programs that would connect elders with youth in learning how to prepare animals.
One interesting project over the last few years has been the development of the country food guidelines. This project has looked at combining some of the health guidelines with country food and making it easier to serve country food within government-run facilities, such as a hospital, for example.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
We're out of time. I'm sorry to interrupt. Thank you.
We need to go now to Mr. van Koeverden for six minutes.