NUNAVUT
New changes to Nutrition North will make listing the program's savings on receipts mandatory.

A point-of-sale system will be made mandatory in retailers who receive Nutrition North program subsidies starting next spring. Receipts will list how much the subsidy lowered food prices. - NNSL file photo

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Bernard Valcourt announced last week the implementation of a point-of-sale system for all Nutrition North Canada retailers by April 1, 2016.

Shoppers' grocery receipts will list how and when the Nutrition North subsidy is applied when shopping in retailers registered in the program.

Valcourt stated in a news release that the point-of-sale system would ensure "greater retailer transparency and ensuring that Northerners can better see how the Nutrition North Canada program is working for them."

Taye Newman, founder of Feeding Nunavut, said posting the subsidies on healthy items in the stores will make it clearer to consumers what the subsidies are.

"In that respect, it increases transparency," she said.

"It also makes it clearer which items are covered by the subsidy, and are deemed healthy foods, and which are not."

But on the other hand, Newman points out that shoppers have no way of knowing how much the shipping for food actually costs and whether the subsidy covers a portion of the shipping costs or even provides a bonus above the costs of shipping.

"Unfortunately, whether this information is posted on receipts or in-store, it does not impact the high cost of groceries," said Newman.

"It also does nothing to address the 50 communities who have been left out of the NNC program."

Christine Reimer, vice president of sales and operations with North West Company, which operates many stores in Nunavut, stated that the program has been successful in lowering food prices.

"We support the advisory board's latest recommendations to make the program more transparent and plan to enhance our point-of-sale system to reflect the subsidy on all receipts in advance of the mandatory date," stated Reimer in a news release.

"We want our customers to be confident that they have received the full subsidy on all purchases."

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Cathy Towtongie said that NTI has publicly and privately called on the government to develop regulations that would make the program more transparent and accountable to Inuit.

"Minister Valcourt's decision is a step in the right direction," she stated in a release following the announcement.

"This change will allow Inuit to see exactly how this government subsidy is being used to reduce the extremely high cost of food in our communities."

Towtongie added that the point-of-sale system is only a small step in the right direction and Nunavummiut want further changes, including heightened Inuit involvement in making decisions about the program.

Between March 2011 and March 2014, the average price of the Revised Northern Food Basket for a family of four has dropped approximately 7.2 per cent, or $137 per month, the release from Valcourt's office stated.

Businesses that receive less than $450,000 per year in NNC subsidies will not be required to implement the system.

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