For those in Canada’s south, seeing the price of food in Nunavut induced instant sticker shock.

However $105 cases of water, $28 heads of cabbage and $55 boxes of infant formula are only one piece of the poverty puzzle that Northern communities face.
Contrary to the myth, living in the North doesn’t guarantee high wages. Inuit living in the territories make far less than non-Aboriginals in the same region — about $43,378 less . Within Inuit Nunangat, the traditional Inuit homeland, non-Aboriginals made an average of $50,128 according to 2005 Statistics Canada numbers. For Inuit, it was only $16,669.

It’s like playing a catch-up game but never catching up,” said Leesee Papatsie, an Iqaluit mother who created the Facebook group Feeding My Family . The group has ballooned to over 18,000 members.

“I think a lot of people in Nunavut understand the word hunger,” says Papatsie.

The group was also used to rally six Nunavut communities to protest high food prices on June 9, with a satellite protest in Ottawa.


Nunavut’s remote communities don’t have highway access, he says, and airline tickets don’t come cheap. A one-way to ticket between some Nunavut communities can cost up to $2,000, nevermind moving an entire family to a southern urban centre.

As for hunting, it’s not as easy as stepping into your backyard and bringing in a caribou. Papatsie says that hunting can require a two to three day expedition requiring expensive equipment, gear, snowmobiles, and of course that pricey food to sustain oneself.
The question remains, why are food prices so high and who has the power to lower them?

Some in the protests have targeted the Northwest Company, who own most of the North’s grocery stores, often being the only supplier in more remote communities. Even Leona Aglukkaq, MP for Nunavut and federal health minister, has previously put the blame on retailers.