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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The elimination of personal orders through the food mail program would mean people have to rely on retailers, and Michelle Filion Chappell of Norman Wells said the lack of accountability among local stores on food mark-ups is unacceptable.

"How are they going to be able to ensure that in the future? How are they going to monitor accountability of pricing and quality?" she asked. Norman Wells has two grocery stores: Northern Store and Rampant Rentals.

Fred Hill, manager of the food mail program through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), said they monitor prices the stores but retailers currently aren't obligated to report on their profit margins or mark-ups on produce.

"We rely on competition amongst stores and most communities have more than one store. We rely on that competition for the savings retailers achieve by using the program to be passed on to consumers," he said.

"In Norman Wells the cost of a two-litre carton of milk in stores is $9.50. Filion Chappell said she has determined the cost of a two-litre carton of milk through food mail, after all fees are included is roughly $4.31. That's less than half the price at local stores, even though the stores also have access to the food mail subsidy program.

" Where is that markup going? she asked. "Why are the stores marking things up this high and where is it going?"

One proposed change in the INAC interim report is to create "an agreement between the department and retailers in order to improve program transparency and provide assurance that the food mail subsidy is being passed on by retailers to consumers."

Although Filion Chappell is lobbying to maintain personal food mail orders, Hill said the program was never intended to focus on personal ordering.

"We don't actually promote personal orders," he said. "The program was set up to ensure that these foods can be available to people in stores at a reasonable, subsidized prices. We don't prohibit personal orders but it wasn't the intention of the program."

Hill said it's debatable if the personal order option was removed whether prices would go up or down.

Filion Chappell administers a group on Facebook, an Internet social network, called 'Keep Food Mail Accessible to ALL Northerners.' The site started last week had more than 180 members as of Friday. Filion Chappell hopes the group will create greater awareness about the program so people know they have the option of ordering their food through this program rather than pay the retail price.

"I want to make sure people understand they deserve access to good quality, affordable food that accommodates their diet and that it's available in a wide variety," she said. "It might make people more aware of the quality of food they are getting at the grocery and maybe make them demand better quality food.

"Feeding yourself as well as you can, I firmly believe is a right. You should be able to accommodate your diet if you have diabetes or food allergies and the stores aren't doing that and food mail is."

News/North's calls to the North West Company, owner and operator of Northern Store and NorthMart, the main supplier of food in the North, were not returned by press time.

Payment for personal food mail orders can be made through cheque, money order or credit card. Filion Chappell said some residents in remote communities have limited access these forms of payment, making it hard for people to take advantage of the program.