Grocery store fire prompts panic-buying in Iqaluit, but not everyone can afford high prices, says activist

Read Story Transcript

Shoppers worried about food shortages thronged a grocery store in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Thursday, after a fire burned down the only other large store in town.

But one resident says the high cost of food in the North means not everyone has the option of stocking up.

"There are a number of community members, who are impacted by this fire, that don't have the luxury of being able to afford to go and buy a week's worth of milk and bread and eggs," said Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, an artist and community activist in the city.

"I usually go to the store every day on my way home from work, and I spend between $30 and $70 a day, just on the fresh food that we need" she told The Current's guest host Piya Chattopadhyay.

"That's with a family of me, and one 21-year-old and one 12-year-old both male though, so we know they eat a lot more."

The fire that destroyed the warehouse of the Northmart store was one of several attended by firefighters early Thursday morning. There were no injuries reported, but residents in the surrounding area, includingPitsiulaaqBrewster's elderly mother, were evacuated.

Because there is no road connection between Iqaluit and southern Canada, all food must be shipped or flown in, and the city has only one other large grocery store to serve its 7,700 residents.

The federal government'sfood security program, Nutrition North,provides subsidies for shipping on items deemed to have a nutritional value. But ithas been criticized recently for not listening to the concerns of the people it is designed to help.

Despite the subsidies, prices in the Northremain high a head of lettuce can sell for $24.99 and food security is a concern.

"The prices are so expensive, that you don't actually look at the actual price because it just hurts so much," Pitsiulaaq Brewster joked.

Fire rips through Iqaluit Northmart store

6 years ago

Duration 1:43

Crews work to put out a blaze at the Northmart store in Iqaluit after an early-morning fire forced the evacuation of nearby homes.

To discuss concerns about food security in the North and the challenges following the fire, Chattopadhyay spoke to:

• Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, an artist and community activist
• Madeleine Redfern, mayor of Iqaluit
• Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada's national Inuit organization.

Listen to the full discussion near the top of this page.

Produced by SamiraMohyeddin, CaroRolando and InesColabrese.