Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honour to embark on this delayed return to the House in keeping with the guiding principles that have directed my interventions since I first entered federal politics.

There is an underlying theme to my interventions in the House. I make a point of lifting the veil of secrecy that shrouds the lifestyle and realities of Canada's northern communities. Since I myself hail from a community north of the 52nd parallel, I am in a position to make known a host of variables and realities that are too often hidden from public view.

Given all that, in the context of this motion on preventing obesity, I will shed light on many issues related to the overabundance of processed foods in northern regions.

It takes me 14 hours to get home from Ottawa. Powerful lobby groups can afford to sell products at a loss in communities. The distance means that extra costs are associated with transportation, hence the loss. I am thinking of pop and chips, which are abundant in communities that are otherwise quite poor both economically and nutritionally.

In other words, people in many of these communities, such as Pakuashipi and Saint-Augustin, have no choice but to buy their food at convenience stores. There are aboriginal communities, but the same is true for the coasters and non-aboriginals who live in these communities. Often the convenience store is the only store in the community.

Most of us have been in convenience stores, and we have probably noticed that processed foods are usually displayed at children's eye level. Three-year-olds who go to convenience stores or bigger stores with their parents get an eyeful of chips, pop and chocolate bars. That is marketing. That is all business. Future consumers are being trained early. Companies make sure that children develop addictions to sugar and processed foods.

The motion before us focuses on the social costs of Canada's alarming obesity rate. One of my colleagues mentioned that health care costs amount to $7 billion per year. Obesity costs us billions of dollars—$7 billion according to my colleague.

Obesity increases the risk of developing a number of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular, liver and gall bladder disease. Liver and gall bladder disease are very prevalent among northerners.

I will speak to this point right away. Many children in these communities are confronted by this reality at a very young age. The number of people who die as a result of cirrhosis of the liver, which is a rather violent and slow death, is ongoing, visible and part of daily life. Cirrhosis of the liver is often related to the over-consumption of alcoholic products. I spoke about the processed foods lobby, but the alcoholic beverage lobby is very present in these communities. In short, when we talk about the cost of obesity, we must not overlook this aspect.

For members' information, when a person dies of cirrhosis of the liver, the mattress is collected along with the body. Children are exposed to adversity at a very young age and it becomes routine. I do not want to use the word “mundane”, but that is what it boils down to. It is part of the reality of these remote communities, which are in a vacuum.

Obesity can result in cardiovascular, liver and gall bladder diseases, strokes, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers—such as endometrial, breast and colon cancer—sleep apnea and respiratory difficulties.

Diabetes is another very worrisome problem in these communities. It results in a gradual and slow death. I often talk about children because they are confronted by this reality. For example, they may have a family member who has a number of amputations, starting first with a leg. We know once amputation is required, death soon follows. In fact, I have not seen many cases where a person with diabetes undergoes an amputation and then lives for many years afterwards.

It is a matter of months after the amputation. In short, this is related to products high in sodium, sugar and carbohydrates, as well as processed foods.

When I was talking about overabundance, these lobbies and the processed food industry, the junk food industry, all make sure they are everywhere in remote communities. In fact, this is clearly reflected in the garbage and empty chip bags in these communities.

Children enjoy considerable freedom in some communities. When they have a few dollars, their first impulse is obviously to get a bag of chips. We can easily calculate the sodium and calories involved. Just as an alcoholic can simply drink to live and give up solid food, it is also possible to live almost exclusively on chips and soft drinks and have an almost balanced diet. This is not quite the case, but some children with little or no supervision can turn to a diet based almost exclusively on fast food.

When I talk about fast food, I am also including TV dinners, which can be put in the microwave for 3.3 minutes and are very high in sodium and trans fats.

Given these facts, we can only welcome any initiative aiming to educate Canadians on this issue, while at the same time encouraging a dialogue to curb obesity in our country.

For the members' information, I will provide the ugly statistics. In Canada, obesity rates are particularly high among aboriginal populations. It is estimated that 26.4% of aboriginal youth and 36% of aboriginal adults living on reserve are obese. These figures are applicable to all the people in Canada's far north, or at least north of the 50th parallel. As I mentioned earlier, for example among coasters, the convenience store is often the only place to buy food for the family. However, what they find is an overabundance of chips and soft drinks.

This is a shame. When I was going door to door during the summer, my experience and my life in remote communities taught me that the two-litre Pepsi or two-litre bottle of pop, not to name any companies, is still on every table. The choice is very simple. A community at the 52nd parallel has to choose between paying sometimes $6 for a two-litre carton of milk—it must be much more expensive at the 55th—or 99 cents for a two-litre bottle of pop in July. That is a problem.

When the UN rapporteur, Mr. De Schutter, came here to Ottawa last year, I made sure I gave him a certain photograph. For any of my colleagues who wish to see it, I still have it on my phone. The photograph shows that in July, in Uashat, a community that is very far away, two litres of pop cost 99¢. Other products, like two litres of Perrier, are a lot more expensive, so the choice is pretty simple.

This brings about certain questions and some very legitimate concerns regarding the pervasive nature and real power of those lobby groups. This government also needs to examine its conscience. Clearly, some of these powerful lobby groups have an attentive ear, and it is appalling that the Canadian government is willing to put economic interests first rather than improve the health and well-being of all Canadians, especially considering the social costs associated with poor nutrition.

Implementing the Conservative corporatist agenda and the government's gradual withdrawal of programs promoting access to adequate housing, social inclusion and education have exacerbated the risk factors that lead to obesity.

Now, there is a lack of political will to regulate industrial practices. I am talking about industrial practices in the broad sense, but it is more obvious in the case of prepared foods. The government has a laissez-faire attitude. The entire industry pretty much has free will, but the costs associated with our health care system having to take care of people with serious health problems related to poor nutrition must be reassessed and that requires a collective awareness.

I submit this respectfully.

Jonathan Genest-Jourdain

Transcript

Private Members' Business

Discussions (0)