Auditor General Sheila Fraser in Ottawa on April 20. This past weekend, Fraser and some of her officials visited the High Arctic community of Grise Fiord, Nunavut, considered to be the most northerly settlement in the country. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser says she has a better understanding of the challenges people in Canada's North face, following a recent trip to the High Arctic.

Fraser and some of her officials travelled this past weekend to Grise Fiord, Nunavut, to meet residents of what is considered to be the most northerly settlement in the country.

While many may know Fraser for her audits of federal government departments and agencies, she also audits the books of Canada's three territorial governments, including Nunavut.

"It's important for us ... to have an appreciation of the issues that people deal with, be it how they deal with the federal government or how they deal with the Nunavut government," Fraser said in an interview that aired Wednesday on CBC Radio's Qulliq.

"I think the High Arctic obviously has challenges and particularities that are quite different from the more southerly communities … [it] kind of gives an interesting perspective on some of the challenges that they have," she added.

Weather delays

Her weekend visit began and ended with weather delays: fog grounded her flights twice, she missed a connecting flight, and only made it back south thanks to a military plane that happened to be in Resolute, another High Arctic community.

"It's sort of an odd story, but we actually hitched a ride back to Halifax with them. Otherwise, we would still be in the North," she said.

In Grise Fiord, Fraser said people were very kind and generous, with some showing her around the hamlet of about 150. She said the visit has informed her of some of the issues they face.

"Some of the challenges of having to live [there] — I guess as most people in Nunavut do — [are] the limited choice, transportation difficulties, you know, things like sealifts once a year," she said.

Food subsidy to be assessed

Fraser said she also learned about the importance of the Nutrition North Program, a federal food subsidy to help people in Grise Fiord and other remote northern communities.

Nutrition North, which replaced the 40-year-old Food Mail Program earlier this year, provides subsidies to retailers and wholesalers to transport nutritious perishable food to those communities at costs that are not prohibitively expensive.

Fraser said her office will need to assess the changes made as Nutrition North replaces the Food Mail Program, in order to ensure the new subsidy is working.

Another issue Fraser said she will watch is whether governments are properly consulting with Inuit. As an example, she cited this week's decision by the Nunavut Court of Justice to halt a federal seismic testing project in Lancaster Sound, due to environmental and wildlife concerns raised by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

"If there was a legal case going on, we wouldn't look at that specifically. But they do have a policy on how they're supposed to consult, and we can see how well they're actually implementing that policy," Fraser said.

Fraser was invited to Grise Fiord by Nunavut MLA Ron Elliott, who represents the territory's High Arctic communities. He said it was great to see such a high-ranking government official taking the time to visit his region.

"To me, that adds to a better understanding of what the communities go through," Elliott said. "You don't really get that perspective unless you're there on the ground, listening to the stories first hand."