What should have been a pleasant walk in nice sunshine actually was an uncomfortable walk in brisk NNW winds up to 72 clicks giving -19 wind chills. Add to that a pulling dog, a soft patch of snow on an embankment you have me going arse over head onto the road. So the walk was cut short.

This article was brought to my attention; it’s from the CBC north web site. Some interesting potential proposals for change to the federal food by mail subsidy program.

While I have never taken advantage of the personal order part of the program, and I don’t know anyone who has, I think it would be wrong to eliminate it. I hear many in more northern regions take advantage of it, and I don’t see how eliminating it would improve retailer purchasing power. If it was eliminated then it would be essential that audits be carried out on a regular basis at the retail level.

They should look closely at eliminating INAC and Canada Posts involvement. Those two entities are responsible to no one, especially Canada Post.

Maybe in our area Nunatsiavut Government could play a role in the overseeing of the program. That is only if open. Transparent and accountable regimes were put in place, after all NG is just another level of government along the lines of the two other levels.

I sure would not like to see the funds going straight to the retailers.

Then again it could all boil down to the devil you know, eh?

After many years of battling with powers that be the program seems to be working from the timely delivery and the quility of product end of the program in this region.
It is just the accountability part that has most concerned people on edge.
There is no regime in place to show who actually benifit and to what degree. Get that in place and I think the status quo may work for us in Labrador.

A small sampling of case in point. Down at the Northern this morning to buy some items. There were some nice looking potatoes, white, washed, not may imperfections on them. So I picked up a bag, even though the price on the rack said “white potatoes $4.99 a Kg”.
I thought to myself that the pricing must be wrong.

Well at the check out I was proved wrong, on the read out it said ‘potatoes $4.99 a Kg with total at $10. 49.
The manager was handy and he looked at the price and had doubts and ran back to the office to check it out.
On return he said that is the price we have. I queried how come, manager said that these particular potatoes cost $40. 00 more a sack than the other varieties they have.

So I picked up a bag of russet spuds, same quantity for under 3 bucks.

It is not my intent here, nor is it ever, to cast doubt on the integrity of local store management and staff, and it never is, after all the decisions are made outside, but I think it is everybody’s duty to question when things look out of whack.