No that is not a typo,it is the actual price of a tub of margarine in Nunavut, after the Harper conservatives canceled the Food Mail program that subsidized shipments of food and some hygiene products to remote northern communities. Under this program the cost of shipping food to these communities was 80 cents per kilo. The unsubsidized price is now about $13 per kilo to Arctic Bay with more remote communities paying even more. The governments answer to those upset at high prices is,“to contact their local retailer.”
“In my opinion, these prices are way too high,” MLA Ronald Elliott said in an interview, adding: “For communities that are already hit with high unemployment and where lots of people are on social assistance, it makes you wonder how people are going to make ends meet.”
The subsidy has been replaced by a new “cost effective” regime pushed by Health Minister and Nunavut MP, Leona Aglukkaq called Nutrition North. Nutrition North will only subsidize what the conservatives deem to be healthy foods,while eliminating the subsidy for hygiene products.
Indian Affairs minister John Duncan wants us to believe that “These prices are not a result of the Nutrition North Canada program” Okay mister minister if not this new fangled “cost effective” program then just what in your opinion has caused this dramatic spike in food prices,oh wait a minute, I know, it must be that evil socialist coalition you guys keep warning us about.Yeah that's it because we know that the North and arctic sovereignty are two of your government's key priorities, so it stands to reason that you wouldn't do anything to make life even more difficult than it already is, now would you.
NOTE: The prices in this video are two years old and were subsidized under the old program. For instance the Cheez Whiz is now $29.39,instead of the $17.79 depicted in the video.
Stephen Harper loves to travel to the north,frolicking on ATV's, making the rules, and displaying his faux concern for the region and it's residents, but like most of what he says and does it is nothing but a shell game. His focus on arctic sovereignty is one such con job, designed not to improve the living conditions of it's residents, nor is it to protect Canadian's interests there, but instead to justify increased military spending and to protect his buddies in big oil. What his focus definitely isn't about is ending the degradation and humiliation of the great peoples that comprise our First Nations of the North and elsewhere.
re: "Nutrition North will only subsidize what the conservatives deem to be healthy foods,while eliminating the subsidy for hygiene products."
ReplyDeleteAnyone wondering why TB rates in the Far North are so high need look no further than this. A social disease that preys on the malnourished who suffer from a lack of proper hygiene, TB is ideally suited to take advantage of this marginalized population. Bottom line, the Harper government doesn't care about health in the North.
With warming temperatures making the abundant natural resources present in the North more readily accessible and the fact that historically aboriginal populations have stood in the way of resource exploitation, could this be an attempt to induce them to abandon the North and relocate to the south?
ReplyDeleteWhile the federal government may well indeed wish to see the indigenous people of northern Canada migrate south to clear the way for the multinational resource rapists. My sense is that, much like the power brokers in Upper Canada (c.1840s-1870s) they are actually secretly hoping they all die off from disease first because they believe it is the most economically viable solution that will save Treasury Board & DIAND $$$!
ReplyDeleteI can't argue with you on that, as similar thoughts have been rattling around in my brain as well
ReplyDeleteA 21st century version of the "smallpox blankets" perhaps