by Nancy Gardiner
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 20/97) - A food mail subsidy program funded by DIAND is a worthwhile program, says an Iqaluit businessman. There's only one problem -- food is needlessly trucked hundreds of kilometres before flying to Nunavut.

Kenn Harper, who runs Arctic Ventures and High Arctic Enterprises in Pangnirtung, says he is affected by the food mail program more than most.

Annual funding for the program is capped at $15.6 million in Canada. The program affects 89,000 Canadians in about 150 communities. Transportation costs are subsidized for nutritious, perishables shipped North by mail.

DIAND monitors the program, which it inherited from Canada Post in 1991. Prior to that, it existed on an ad hoc basis for about 25 years.

Harper doesn't have a problem with that. It's the fact that the groceries have to come from Val D'or.

"Nothing grows there, and there's nothing fresh there. Everything that goes to Val D'or is trucked there from Montreal or Ottawa, then flown North. But planes come from Montreal and Ottawa every single day to Iqaluit, so why not ship them directly from Montreal or Ottawa?" says Harper.

"I'd prefer fresh perishables seven days a week."

And Harper says the reason is political: "The theory being that you drive it as far as you can go, and then use the airport closest to you." Harper says it's been questioned in the past by the Chamber of Commerce in Iqaluit and himself, but to no avail.

Bruce Myers, director of regional analysis for DIAND in Hull, Que., says he's aware of Harper's concerns, but says there's been no concrete facts to support his comments.

"There's been a lack of information hard or soft, with factual grounds, for Northern Affairs to accelerate a decision on entry points," Myers explains.

"And no other retailers have come to us with a problem regarding freshness or quality," says Myers, "or folks buying from distributors in Val D'or. "We want to know if cost or quality becomes a problem," he adds.

Myers says the program's entry points are reviewed routinely with regard to program costs and quality of service to communities.

"Our objective is to promote health and nutrition through subsidies. The rationale is that it should be at the northern ends of the road, so we're not subsidizing air legs as long as they have to be."

And there's been major investments by distributors and wholesalers for coolers and refrigerators to provide this service, not only from Val D'or, but from other points of entry to the North as well.

"No matter if the firm is aboriginal owned or not, if the entry point changed, there would need to be a period of consultation and realization that businesses would have to reposition themselves in local markets," says Myers, referring to Harper's comments.

Myers says if any changes are made, "they won't be overnight."

The company in Val D'or that is part of the mail program is Servinor, owned by a Quebec Cree company, suggesting a political motivation, says Harper. "Just because it's political doesn't make it right."

Servinor officials were not available for comment.

The bottom line, says Harper, is that the only thing that will change the situation is "an act of God."