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Anger over high food prices in North Peaceful protesters gather outside Iqaluit grocery store to voice concerns
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 19, 2013
IQALUIT
"We're here to protest the high cost of food."
The message from Israel Mablick Sr.'s megaphone was loud and clear - something has to give when it comes to the high cost of food, among other things, in the North.
Israel Mablick Sr., left, and Leesee Papatsie, members of the Feed My Family Facebook group, protest outside the Northmart in Iqaluit on Aug. 15. They say it's important for their message on the high cost of food to be heard across Nunavut. - Myles Dolphin/NNSL photo |
As more and more protesters poured into the parking lot opposite the Iqaluit Northmart on the afternoon of Aug. 15, the collection of neon signs grew larger.
At least 10 of them had lined up along the side of Queen Elizabeth Way shortly after the protest began at 5 p.m.
Traffic slowed to a crawl while most motorists shared their support for the protest by honking their horns several times.
Mablick Sr. - who shares a two-bedroom unit with his wife, his mother, his sister, his nephew and his five children - said he wants to make sure the message is loud and clear to Nunavummiut.
"A lot of us have had experiences with hunger, and we've been through difficult, financial situations," he said, while holding up a sign that read "Stop Price Gouging."
"We want all of Nunavut to see that we're standing up for high food prices. We want politicians to hear our voices."
News that Canada's auditor general has agreed to audit the federal Nutrition North Canada program - which provides shipping subsidies on various foods across the North - is encouraging to Mablick Sr., but he said he can't say for sure whether it'll affect food prices until the results of the audit are in.
"We all knew the program had to be audited," said Leesee Papatsie, a member of the Feed My Family group on Facebook and one of the protest organizers.
"Some food prices have gone up while some have gone down in the past year," she said, referring to the cost of food since the last protest took place on Aug. 25, 2012.
"It varies from week to week. Hopefully the audit can bring more awareness to the high cost of food in the North.
Other signs at the protest read "67 per cent of households are food insecure," while Imoe Papatsie's four-year-old son George wore a sandwich board reading "We need cheaper pears."
"It's not just food, as cleaning supplies are also really expensive," Papatsie said.
"As a result of that, I spend less on food. You know, they want to promote healthy lifestyles and that means having a clean living space, so it's a real Catch-22 situation."
Mablick Sr. is concerned about food prices for his family, which spends upwards of $2,000 bi-weekly on groceries.
"The rest, baby wipes, diapers, etc., is also expensive," he said.
"It's a great difficulty to cope with and it's hard to keep up. I work long hours and had to start carving just to be able to put food on the table."
Leesee Papatsie, whose sign read "Children Go to Bed Hungry," had a message of her own for the Nunavut government, ahead of the upcoming territorial election on Oct. 28.
"We want them to keep the issue of poverty on the table," she said, "because we won't go away."
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