Saskatchewan NDP urges Moe to address high food prices in light of scurvy cases

SASKATOON, Sask. — Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP says Premier Scott Moe’s government needs to address high food prices and pause the gas tax in light of recent scurvy cases in the province’s North.

News website larongeNow reported last week that doctors in the community had treated 27 cases of scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency, over the last six months. The doctors pointed to food insecurity as part of the problem.

Northern affairs critic Jordan McPhail said Tuesday the cost of fresh produce and milk is exorbitant in Stony Rapids, a community near the Northwest Territories boundary.

Photos provided by the NDP, which it says were taken Monday from a grocery store in the hamlet, show a jug of milk selling for $18, a bag of apples for $15 and a package of grapes for $20.

“It’s crazy,” McPhail told reporters in Saskatoon.

He said the Saskatchewan Party government should suspend the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax to provide relief and help residents afford groceries.

He pointed to Manitoba, which has paused its gas tax until the end of 2024.

“(In Saskatchewan), we see nothing except skyrocketing costs and the government missing in action,” he said.

McPhail also renewed his party’s calls for the province to suspend the provincial sales tax from ready-to-eat grocery items. The sales tax does not apply to basic groceries, such as meat, dairy and produce.

He said some people are choosing not to buy fresh food, which could lead to vitamin deficiencies.

“Fuel is a huge factor, and the government can provide some much needed relief today,” McPhail said.

“We shouldn’t be having to talk about scurvy in 2024 and especially in a place like Saskatchewan.”

Scurvy symptoms vary from fatigue and joint pain to hair changes, wounds not healing and loss of teeth.

In May, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band hired a doctor to investigate vitamin C deficiency among members and the wider community, larongeNow reported.

Of 50 vitamin C blood tests, 27 were confirmed to be deficient, pointing to scurvy, and 10 showed low levels. All patients were over 20 years old and 79 per cent were Indigenous.

The Saskatchewan Party government said in a statement Tuesday the federal government primarily regulates food prices.

It said it’s looking forward to seeing Ottawa’s work investigating grocery prices.

“(We) will continue to advocate for our residents to push for necessary changes, including at the federal/provincial/territorial level to ensure affordable access to essential food items,” the province said.

It added it has removed the federal carbon levy from home heating bills to help people save money.

Earlier this year, the Saskatchewan government stopped paying the federal carbon charge on natural gas, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals exempted home-heating oil users, who are mainly in Atlantic Canada, from paying.

Ottawa and Saskatchewan later reached an agreement, with the federal government securing half of what was owed until the dispute could be resolved.

Saskatchewan residents continue to receive carbon rebate cheques.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.

— By Jeremy Simes in Regina, with files from larongeNOW.

The Canadian Press