Hundreds of families in a Manitoba Cree Nation will be without food hampers this holiday season after a funding request was denied -- but the food will instead help feed people at a Winnipeg homeless shelter.
The food, including items such as potatoes, milk, butter, buns, gravy and cranberry sauce, was originally ordered to fill hampers for 200 families from Tataskweyak Cree Nation.
But the company hired to source and package the hampers said leadership from the northern Manitoba First Nation contacted them on Dec. 13, saying they had to cancel the order.
That's because Tataskweyak had applied for funding for the order through the federal Jordan's Principle program -- and that funding was denied over eligibility concerns.
"[It] really is still very unfortunate, because ... their members deserved to have a good Christmas as well," said Tara Tootoo Fotheringham, the co-owner of Arctic Buying Company, the Inuk-owned business hired to source the hampers.
Jordan's Principle -- named after Jordan River Anderson, a five-year-old Norway House Cree Nation boy who died in 2005 in the midst of a two-year battle between Manitoba and Ottawa over who would pay for his care -- is a federal program launched in 2016 to compensate qualifying families for their children's health, therapeutic and social services.
WATCH | First Nations community without holiday food hampers after federal funding denied:
But Indigenous Services Canada, which is responsible for administering Jordan's Principle, said the First Nation's request didn't meet the criteria to grant funding under the program.
"Seasonal gifts for families are not something covered through Jordan's Principle as it is not a service the government provides, nor is it within the spirit of why Jordan's Principle was created in the first place," a spokesperson said on behalf of the minister's office in a statement.
Tataskweyak Cree Nation told CBC they hope to find another source of funding for the hampers.
But the denial meant the First Nation had to cancel its order for the hampers, leaving Arctic Buying Company -- which typically supplies food to communities in northern Manitoba and Nunavut, where its head office is located -- with more than 3,000 kilograms of food, worth approximately $20,000.
Rather than seeing it go to waste, the company chose to donate it to Siloam Mission in Winnipeg, where the food was delivered Wednesday.
Tootoo Fotheringham and Caners say they're out $20,000 after the food order was cancelled, but they're happy the food will be put to good use at Siloam. (Jaison Empson/CBC)
"This was actually a win-win for all of us. We feel good about it," Tootoo Fotheringham said.
Arctic Buying Company co-owner Clifford Caners agreed.
"It's heartfelt and we know that it's going to go a long way," he said.
The food will be put to good use, said Siloam Mission CEO Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud.
"It'll be out the door within a week, because things move fast here, so we're really appreciative of that contribution," she said.
The hampers will help provide meals for people on Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, Blaikie Whitecloud said.
"We're happy about that, [but] sad about how it happened," said Caners.
Tataskweyak Cree Nation was meant to receive the food for 200 hampers, but had to cancel the order after their request for funding under the federal Jordan's Principle program was denied. (Jaison Empson/CBC)
He and Tootoo Fotheringham say it's the first time they've donated goods to the shelter, and while they're pleased the food will be put to good use, the cancellation has had a financial impact on their company.
"At the end of all this, we're out money," Tootoo Fotheringham. "[But] I feel bad for the community, and that they weren't able to do a delivery of what they wanted to for their members.
"So I am not really putting blame on them, but I think we will have to be more diligent when we do any large orders now to ensure that this isn't dependent on any kind of funding."
She said Arctic Buying Company is heavily involved with Jordan's Principle, but challenges administering the federal program have left their company waiting in the past for invoice payments for food orders and left others, like Tataskweyak Cree Nation, without funding after requests were denied.
First Nations leaders have decried a backlog in Jordan's Principle funding, which the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said last week has led to "alarming service denials and delays" in funding for essential services.
In November, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled the federal government needed to immediately deal with a backlog of claims under Jordan's Principle that as of this month had grown to 140,000 backlogged requests across Canada.