IQALUIT
Nunavut's food security advocacy group Feeding My Family has its sights on the North's biggest retailer, and is calling for residents across Canada and the United States to boycott the North West Company's stores on Jan. 31.

Protesters gathered in front of the Iqaluit NorthMart in June 2014. Considering the weather, the Feeding My Family group is asking people to stay home and protest by boycotting North West Company stores across Canada and the United States on Jan. 31. - NNSL file photo

At issue is the high cost of food in the North. Although other retailers have similar pricing, the North West Company has the most buying power and is the most visible, with stores in communities across Nunavut, NWT, Yukon and Alaska, as well as Ontario and New Brunswick, said organizer Leesee Papatsie.

"They're widespread and they've have been gouging Nunavut for a long time," Papatsie said.

But the boycott is not without its critics.

"So when is the boycott-the-equally-expensive-expired-food-selling-competition day happening?" wrote Apex resident Aaron Watson on his Facebook page.

"Boycotting any of the stores is silly," Iqaluit resident Madeleine Redfern responded in the same thread. "(The) real problem lies with the Nutrition North program and the failure of governments, Inuit organizations to adequately assess and address the various systemic problems in a co-ordinated and strategic manner."

Papatsie gets their point.

"It's a lot of things," she said. "It's the airlines, the different levels of government. But Feeding My Family is about raising awareness of the high cost of food, and we could target ACL (Arctic Co-operatives Ltd) as well. But we're trying to do one main target. If people want to protest the others, please do."

The boycott will be Feeding My Family's first after several territory-wide protests.

"Just to stand up to something that's not right," Papatsie said, noting you won't see anyone protesting, and in fact, the fewer people seen at the stores, the better. "It's a choice, but what I like about this is we don't need to go out in public to do it."

The North West Company's vice-president of Canadian sales and operations, Christine Reimer, said she is disappointed by the planned boycott.

"We are bringing lower prices to the North," she said. She noted the cost of doing business is quite high, citing electricity prices. "If you look at Manitoba, it's six cents a kilowatt. We can go as high as 66 cents a kilowatt (in Nunavut). We're always working on lowering our costs. In Iqaluit alone, we were able to negotiate new freight rates and put back $600,000 into pricing."

Reimer said the company is using its power to put pressure on the Canadian government to help, noting executives are scheduled to meet with bureaucrats at the Nunavut at 15 conference in Ottawa early next month.