Members of Manitoba’s aboriginal communities are still calling for an apology from the culture minister over remarks suggesting northern residents could substitute Cheez Whiz for milk.

Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism Flor Marcelino made the statements during a debate in 2008 over a bill that would see a fixed price of milk across the province. She claimed that Cheez Whiz could be an adequate substitute for milk in the north, where residents must pay up to $15 for a four-litre carton.

One litre of whole milk contains several vitamins, along with 30 per cent calcium and low amounts of sodium. Cheez Whiz, categorized as a processed cheese spread, contains virtually no vitamin content and is made up of 20 per cent sodium.

Marcelino’s statements resurfaced this month when Joan Hay, a commissioner on the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, decried her remarks as offensive and unfitting for a Cabinet minister.

Spokespeople for Marcelino stated that the minister has given an adequate apology to Hay and has nothing further to add on the issue.

“I think that the statement shows a bit of ignorance,” said Hay. “[But] I realize now that she made the remark when she was uninformed ... Let’s give her a chance.”

There are some, however, who are calling for a more public apology.

“Her statements show a disregard for Manitoban children – that’s not just of aboriginal people but all Manitobans,” said Raven Thundersky, chairperson for the Winnipeg chapter of Sisters in Spirit, an advocacy group for aboriginal women in Canada. “She should apologize to all Manitobans.”

The Milk Prices Review Amendment Act was a private member’s bill tabled to benefit Northern communities in particular. It did not pass the required first reading to be submitted for committee review.

Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal MLA for Inkster, drafted the bill.

“I’ve always believed that the government should send a basic message about nutritious foods,” Lamoureux said. “If [the NDP] did let it go to committee they would see it’s a practical bill.”

As of August 2008, the price of four litres of milk in Churchill was over $8 compared to just over $4 in Winnipeg.

The Milk Prices Review Commission is responsible for establishing the price of milk in Manitoba, based on the criteria spelled out in the Milk Prices Review Act. In 2003, the commission resolved to create a “monitored and controlled cost of retail milk prices in Northern Manitoba.” But according to a 2008 CBC report, the price of milk in Churchill was largely contingent on the price of gasoline for transportation.

“It’s hard to decide which is more offensive,” said Marty Gold, host of The Great Canadian Talk Show, a radio show that first reported on Marcelino’s remarks. “The ignorance of the statement or the evident lack of true commitment to the north, ‘healthy living’ and children.”

To read the rest of the interview with DJ and host Marty Gold, go to Ethan Cabel’s blog at www.uniter.ca/blogs.

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)