.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The fading possibility of a subsidy to alleviate the high cost of milk in NWT communities has some people a bit sour.

Mildred Edwards, chief of the Aklavik Indian Band, didn't know how much milk cost in her community because she doesn't buy it there.

Mike Lyster of Brooks, Alta, takes a snapshot of the price of milk with his cellphone at the Northmart in Inuvik. A four-litre jug of milk costs $10.99 in the town and Lyster said he pays around $5 for the same container in Alberta. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

"It's just too expensive and it shouldn't be," Edwards said. "There are a lot of people without work and they don't have much and the staple stuff we need to be healthy is too expensive. People won't pay for it."

Health Minister Sandy Lee said the government is still looking into the subsidy, which would give community residents coupons to reduce the cost to what Yellowknife residents pay, - approximately $2.89 for 2 litres - but said they don't want to focus on just one product. Edwards said it's an issue needing a resolution.

Aklavik residents currently pay $4.49 for one litre of milk and $8.69 for two litres.

"I don't know how they can't be thinking of doing this," she said, adding they don't have it as bad as other communities. "At least with us we have ice roads, but with places like Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk. I feel sorry for them. Milk is a staple and it's too expensive."

Elsie De Roose, a health promotion specialist with the Department of Health and Social Services, said people can get the staple nutrients they get from milk - vitamin D, calcium and vitamin A - from more traditional sources of food, but it's more difficult to achieve the recommended amount.

"If they didn't drink milk it would be more difficult to find a number of these nutrients," she said, adding traditional foods like fish heads provide a lot of the same nutrients. "It's probably possible but it is much more difficult.

"It's common in many places that there is a low intake of calcium, even in the south. The consumption of dairy products was a lot higher years ago but with alternative drinks out there, people are choosing those over milk or dairy products."

The remote community of Colville Lake only gets milk once or twice a month and Joseph Kochon, Band Manager for Behdzi Ahda First Nations, said they usually pay anywhere from $10 to $15 for a two-litre carton of milk. The current price is $9.59.

"It's too expensive to fly it in," he said, adding the cost is reflected by the weight of shipping cartons.

Unaware of the milk subsidy, Kochon said it would be an extremely beneficial program.

"Any products we get from the south we pay the price," he said. "It would benefit a lot of the larger families here in our community.

"We need to reduce the cost of living in small communities. To be able to afford any kind of healthy food we need to do something about it."

A lack of vitamin D is related to poor bone health, colorectal cancer, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. A lack of calcium, De Roose said, can lead to osteoporosis later in life.

Kochon said those who miss out on carton milk have to rely on canned milk at the cost of $3.39 for a 370ml can. Colville Lake residents pay $5.29 a litre for UHT milk that has six-month shelf life due to a different type of pasteurization. Tuktoyaktuk residents pay $7.99 for a two-litre carton and $4.59 for UHT milk. According to the Paulatuk Hamlet Office, the cost of one-litre of milk is nearly $6.

"It's unacceptable," Kochon said. "We're in Canada and it's like we're in a third world country. We're still struggling to provide necessities for our young and elders."

Raymond Kaslak, senior administration officer for the community of Sachs Harbour, said he's surprised this subsidy hasn't gone through yet.

"It's a shock to me really," he said. "I figured there would at least be some assistance from the government. We need lower costs. It would help with people who have small children."