1 week Ago By Jennifer Ackerman, Regina Leader-Post
As a new sitting for a newly re-elected government far to the south commences, northern Saskatchewan faces the same old problems ...
some of them so old we can hardly fathom they could still exist in the modern world. There is an outbreak of — an ailment best associated with hundreds of years ago when it was expected 50 per cent of the crew might die from vitamin C deficiency. Yet 27 cases of cases of the century-old-and-almost-obliterated disease were recently discovered in the La Ronge area after a doctor began repeatedly seeing scurvy symptoms that include joint and muscle pain, bleeding and swollen gums and and spots on the skin.
Again, this scurvy outbreak is in 21st century Canada — not a 1700s British navy sailing vessel in the middle of the ocean, filled with unfortunate souls press-ganged off the streets of London. The problem isn’t that we don’t know what caused the ailment. We fully understand today our dietary need for things like fresh oranges or orange juice, peppers, strawberries or even broccoli, Brussels sprouts and potatoes that would have eliminated this outbreak before it happened.
The problem is getting such produce up there. The problem is people affording it. And, perhaps most critically, the problem is government even recognizing how this problem occurred.
“The ‘outside aisle’ of the grocery store is the issue,” said newly elected Cumberland NDP MLA Jordan McPhail, who has lived in La Ronge for most of his 31 years. While the “inside aisle” items like flour, salt and sugar or a variety of packaged pastas have gone up in price with inflation, the “outside aisle” — where they usually display perishable fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy products — has become exceedingly hard for northern grocers to stock. And what little quality produce they can can stock has become all too unaffordable for many northern consumers.
So with precious little fresh produce, northerners are now experiencing ailments they once addressed by other means. Historically, northern Indigenous people would gather blueberries and cranberries or would gather the ingredients for that once provided them with their vitamin C content, McPhail explained. However, few in the north have either the time, resources or wherewithal to search farther and farther out on the land for such natural bounty that is also becoming increasingly scarce.
“We’re not on paddle and canoe anymore,” McPhail said, explaining today’s northerner is as reliant on the grocery store as anyone else. The consequences of not being able to afford what’s on grocery shelves is directly responsible for this scurvy outbreak, the new Cumberland MLA noted. And the problems may be even bigger than we now understand.
The 27 cases are just in the area of the , so who knows how many other scurvy cases there might be in the vast north? And who knows what other ailments may be afflicting northerners because of unaffordable food? It is a new-old problem for the northern half of Saskatchewan that doesn’t get much attention from the government in the south unless it is talking about its uranium or mineral wealth or summer tourism. McPhail said its now up to him to make the case for his constituents. He replaces retired Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette, who was for saying the Saskatchewan Party government “didn’t give a (expletive)” about the extraordinarily high rate of teen suicide in the north.
Premier Scott Moe wouldn’t meet with on the issue — presumably, because he violated Wascana Centre rules by camping on the legislative grounds in a teepee. It was a defining moment for Moe in 2020. Addressing this latest health scare would be one way for the Sask.
Party government to show it has learned it can’t keep ignoring the north’s old problems..
