Published 3:54 am Wednesday, November 26, 2025 By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Northern News Services High grocery prices are creating food insecurity in Nunavut’s northernmost community, Grise Fiord mayor Meeka Kiguktak said, and the absence of a sealift is making matters worse. Kiguktak said groceries are being flown in by plane to her community, a much more expensive shipping route than by marine freight. “I was trying to bake something with coconut, it cost $27.99, and the pickles cost $50, the ketchup costs the same,” Kiguktak said. New items on shelves of the only grocery store in town — the Grise Fiord Inuit Co-operative Limited — all carry the high price of air transport, according to Kiguktak. She said she contacted Arctic Co-operatives Limited (ACL), the federation that the Grise Fiord store is part of, about the lack of sea lift shipments. “We didn’t really get a reply. We met with our MLA, David (Akeeagok), last year and the ACL, whoever is involved, but there was really no explanation. So maybe it’s because they were too late for reservation because it’s now in April that you have to make reservation for the sealift if you’re going to order,” Kiguktak said. But a sealift carrying 70 tonnes of goods to the Grise Fiord Inuit Co-operative Limited arrived in late August, according to Duane Wilson, ACL’s vice-president for merchandising and logistics. That included 2,300 lbs. of donated food to the hamlet from the charity Second Harvest, Wilson explained. Only one sealift shipment arrives in the community each year. Wilson also said he hasn’t heard from Kiguktak regarding issues with the sealift, but that ACL is in regular contact with Grise Fiord senior administrative officer David General. The Grise Fiord Inuit Co-operative Limited is owned by community members, Wilson said, and there’s no reason to overcharge customers. “Defaulting the easy ‘Oh, the stores must be gouging us’ is not a true reflection of what’s transpiring here, and until we get beyond that, to start to tackle some of the real issues, then we’re just going to be stuck pointing fingers,” he said. He maintained that small, remote populations face high prices because of the low volume of sales and high transportation costs. Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc., the sealift company that transports groceries and other goods to the territory, is listed as a partnership between Arctic Co-operatives Limited, Desgagnes Transarctik Inc, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation, Sakku Investments Corporation and the Kitikmeot Corporation on ACL’s website. Getting in and out of Grise Fiord is a major challenge for the hamlet of 144 people, Kiguktak said. The mayor said she is in talks with Canadian North about increasing airline service. “There’s only two flights going to Grise Fiord, which are passenger flights. So we spent the whole weekend, Friday to Monday, in Resolute Bay,” Kiguktak said about her connecting flight to Iqaluit during a trip to attend the Nunavut Association of Municipalities annual general meeting earlier this month. The Quttiktuq riding also includes Arctic Bay and Resolute Bay. Most MLAs representing the district come from Arctic Bay because of its higher population, Kiguktak said, and Grise Fiord residents don’t bother running as candidates in the territorial election. Despite those concerns, Kiguktak said she’s worked well with MLAs and premiers in the past and wants greater assistance from the next territorial government. “More help for the Arctic, more help for Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay. We do not have MLAs,” Kiguktak said about what she hopes from the next territorial government.
$50 ketchup: Grise Fiord mayor discusses coping with high grocery prices
