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Nutrition North to be reviewed Auditor general identifies program as high-risk
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, August 3, 2013
NUNAVUT
The Nutrition North program, designed to make food products affordable for Northerners, is to be scrutinized by the auditor general of Canada, answering demands from political leaders over the past few months.
Northwest Company executive vice-president Michael McMullen holds a package of tomatoes on April 1, 2011, the day the Nutrition North program launched. The item was 86 cents less expensive than the day before. The auditor general of Canada is undertaking a performance audit on Nutrition North. - NNSL file photo
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Six MPs passed a motion in June requesting the office of the auditor general of Canada audit Nutrition North. Before that, territorial MLAs in Nunavut, the NWT and the Yukon passed motions requesting an audit in their respective legislative assemblies.
An activist for affordable food and government leaders are looking forward to some hard facts about Nutrition North's performance.
Leesee Papatsie, founder of the lobby group Feeding my Family, which hosted protests in Nunavut communities, said regardless of how the audit turns out, the number of elected officials and members of the public who "spoke with one voice" about their concerns is a huge step forward.
"I think it's great. What's great about it is Feeding my Family has been about coming together to have one voice and the elected officials all did that on their own, where they requested (the audit).
"They all came together for one cause and that itself is amazing to see," Papatsie said. "I'm really glad because this will put the issue of hunger in the North out more. The awareness for it is great. My hope is to have food prices come down eventually."
Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliot said he was glad a non-partisan entity would be looking into the program so the public can get information without political agenda interfering. He added, the audit will also allow the public insight into the "numbers and figures" of the program's performance.
The office of auditor general Michael Ferguson said the decision was made independent of these concerns, even before the concerns had been expressed.
"In determining what to audit, the office focuses on the areas in which federal government organizations face the highest risk," stated Ghislain Desjardins, media relations manager for the office, in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North. "Also, the office pays particular attention to requests for audits from parliamentary committees or from members of Parliament. However, the ultimate decision about what to audit rests with the auditor general ... the decision to audit this program was made last fall before the request by MPs."
The auditor general's office plans to present its findings in the fall of 2014.
The auditor general's office does not release information on the scope of the audit until the Speaker of the House of Commons has been informed of what the audit entails, which is approximately one month before findings are presented to Parliament.
Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya also said he was glad to see an independent committee taking a look at what has become a controversial program.
"When you take a bite out of your apple you want to know what you're biting."
The Nutrition North Program provides subsidies to retailers for certain food items. These savings are supposed to be directly passed on to customers, however, some are concerned about the lack of enforcement and accountability of the system.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, which administers the program, stated the office of the auditor general informed the department of the audit last fall and no changes to the program are planned in the near future.
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