After the hellish heat of Tuesday [+5 and no wind] it was back to reality yesterday with +3 and the ever cooling in wind.
Planes are on the go even with some iffy ceilings. Yesterday one plane flew over town before heading a ways south before ‘finding a hole’ that was not over land.
People who are new to this type of flying go through some anxious moments when they do that.

The ITK meetings continue, last evening there was a community feast with local entertainment put on for the visitors, though locals seem to enjoy them just as much or more than visitors.

There were also some people in town to make presentations to the ITK board on the federally funded food mail program. As I have mentioned before there is a review of the program under way, or more precisely many reviews.

Two gentlemen from the public service sequsted to do a review of the program for INAC gave me about an hour or so of their time. This review has been on going for about two years.

I also was given the opportunity to listen to a gentleman from Norterra, the parent company of Canadian North Airlines.

I am still digesting the information garnered from those two meetings, suffice to say the Food Mail Program is very complex and convoluted to the extreme.

Little wonder the proletariat have little knowledge or pay much attention to it. Which is a pity because it was put on originally for the benifit of the consumers of the North. This from the INAC web site It provides nutritious perishable food and other essential items to isolated northern communities at reduced postal rates.

Alas it seems to have expanded and grown and because of its complexity some of the other players in the game seem to be taking advantage, or abusing, the program to the detriment of the consumer.
IMO the aforementioned ‘other essential items’ is eating up too many dollars to the determent of the ‘nutritious perishable food' aspect.

This is not to say that the consumers are not reaping some benefit, they are. But it is clear to just about everyone who takes an interest that many millions are being squandered or just plain disappeared because of the lack of transparency, openness and accountability.



So while I digest the results of the last few days I would like to put out for the consumers benefit some of what is going on the food mail program pertaining to Labrador.

It was not too many years ago that retailers would order their winter supplies and they would arrived late November on the boats. These dry goods and frozen products were to last until the next boat in the next shipping season.

At that same time the food mail program would bring in nutritious perishables and the odd little bit of dry foods that had run out, or the odd frozen product for the same reason.

Then a few years ago Lewisport Wholesalers [the main supplier to the coast] was brought out by a bigger fish in the food chain. The bigger fish shut down the Lewisport branch of Lewisport Wholesalers and moved the operation to a different location.

The new bigger fish also discontinued the practice of supplying the retailers with their winter orders and allowing them to pay off the debt over time at no interest, or at least low interest. This would be the same as obtaining a no or low interest loan from a bank.

So starting slowly and then increasing in frequency the food mail flights have increased from one Twin Otter load [3,000 lb] a week containing mainly fresh produce to six to ten Twin Otter loads [18,000 to 30, 000 lb] a week containing mainly dry goods, frozen meats and BOTTLED WATER.

That’s right, bottled water. Not only is it absurd that bottled water is being brought in the first place in such volumes, but tax payers are subsiding the air freighting of it.

This increase is happening legally under the food mail program. BUT, the retailers are taking advantage of the absurdity of a lot of these dry goods being included in the first place. Mayonnaise, cheese spread are two examples, take a look at some of the other eligible items, it is absurd.

The taking advantage is: Instead of the retailers, [I must mention not all of them] taking out a business loan to stock their warehouse and freezers for the winter, they are using the mail program to bring in much needed supplies at the subsidized freight rate.

Now without any transparency and openness in the Federal as well as the Provincial program who is to say what percentage of these two subsidies is actually being passed on to the consumer?????

Now out of the two biggest retailers here one has ample warehouse space that is never more than half full, while the other has inadequate warehouse space to store anything substantial like winter orders. Makes you wonder how much they depend on this subsidy to keep their stores stocked doesn't it?????????? My guess would be, a bloody lot mate.
It also seems; if not like a breach of the letter of the programs it certainly is a breach of the spirit of the original intent.

Here is another little ditty: Under the food mail program only two wholesalers in Goose Bay are registered to supply goods. Those wholesalers are small in the scheme of things not carrying any where near the stock of wholesalers outside of Labrador. But they are only ones to supply the program.

So with this increase in demand and the frequency of the orders coming in the wholesalers are going up to the Terrington Co Op, purchasing items there and then shipping them up in the food mail program. The analogy told to me is; the Co Op has 3, 000 items in its inventory while the wholesalers have 300 items.
Yet the Co Op does not have permission to operate under the food mail program, why this is so is debatable to some, but from my knowledge and that of others to me it is clear cut, a story for another day.

If this practice does not add extra cost to the end user, plus the GB wholesalers are notoriously over priced in the first place I will eat my slimy Okra.


Update: After all those brick bats a little kudo to throw.

The wholesale price of milk has risen several times in the last little while [thanks to the milk marketing board]. It cost retailers $4.05 to purchase 2 liters [so I am told] ex Goose Bay.

Northern is selling them for $5.29 and Big Land for $4.69.

Even taking into account the shipping of milk is free from Goose Bay to Nain it is still a good jester on BigLands part.