Allan Rock and Georges Farrah Announce $41 Million in New Initiatives
for Arctic Research
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Quebec,
Quebec,
April 24, 2003 – Allan Rock, Minister of Industry
and Minister responsible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Georges Farrah,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today
announced investments totalling $41 million to raise Canada’s
international profile in Arctic science and answer important questions
about the effects of global change in the North.
Today’s funding includes:
- $27.7 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to retrofit
an icebreaker with state-of-the-art equipment for Arctic research.
- $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) to support a multi-year project to study
the ecosystem and climate impacts of melting ice in the Arctic Ocean.
- $3 million from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to reactivate and refit
the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker for its new role as a dedicated
Arctic research platform.
The international project, led by Dr. Louis Fortier of Université
Laval will become an important catalyst to re-energize Canadian Arctic
science by giving researchers unprecedented access to the Arctic Ocean.
Over the next 10 years, the vessel will support several major multidisciplinary
programs of international stature to advance our understanding of climate,
oceanic circulation, sea-ice dynamics, biology, biogeochemistry, sedimentology,
paleoceanography, and geology in the Canadian sector of the Arctic Ocean.
The ship will set sail for the Beaufort Sea in September as the first
mission on the icebreaker.
“This research will help tackle issues that transcend national
boundaries and will help consolidate Canada’s lead in Arctic oceanography,”
said Minister Rock. “This new ship will also provide a unique
training opportunity for Canada’s young researchers to work side
by side with some of the world’s best environment and marine scientists.”
“Fisheries and Oceans Canada is proud to be a part of this ground-breaking
project. The Arctic is an important part of Canada and it’s only
natural that Canada plays a pivotal role in Arctic research,”
said Mr. Farrah, on behalf of the Honourable Robert G. Thibault, Minister
of Fisheries and Oceans.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada
funds will be used to retrofit an existing icebreaker – supplied
by the Canadian Coast Guard – with state-of-the-art research equipment
to study the environmental, social, and economic impact of global warming
on Canada's northern regions.
NSERC will allocate its funding directly to the Canadian Arctic Shelf
Exchange Study (CASES) – an NSERC Research Network involving 13
Canadian universities. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada,
Natural Resources Canada and the National Defence also made major in-kind
contributions to the Network, by providing access to infrastructure
and services essential to the realization of its mission. The estimated
value of CASES is $42 million, $11 million deriving from the
international contributors.
According to NSERC's president Tom Brzustowski, “a partnership
of funders and a collaborating network of scientists are the only ways
to assemble the resources and the wide complementary expertise needed
to conduct a full ecosystem study in the Arctic, in an attempt to foresee
the potential impacts of climate change on Arctic shelves”.
The CASES Research Network will gather detailed information on variations
in ice cover on the Mackenzie Shelf and the impact it has on the Arctic
ecosystem. The collaboration involving foreign experts from nine countries
will allow for the most comprehensive study of the Arctic shelves to
date.
As part of the CASES study, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s scientists
will join researchers from Canadian universities and participants from
countries around the world, to conduct Arctic exploration and research.
Their studies will cover a wide range of marine disciplines from physical
oceanography to contaminants to marine mammal research.
The new scientific icebreaker will be crewed by Coast Guard personnel,
who will lend their operational and navigational expertise to ongoing
Arctic research projects.
NSERC is a key federal agency investing in highly qualified people,
discovery and innovation. The Council supports both basic university
research through discovery grants, and project research through partnerships
among universities, governments and the private sector, as well as the
advanced training of highly qualified people.
The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation established
by the Government of Canada in 1997 to strengthen the capacity for innovation
in Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and other non-profit
institutions.
For more information, please contact:
Selena Beattie
Office of Allan Rock
Minister of Industry
Tel.: (613) 995-9001
Douglas Lauriault
Director, Public Affairs
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Tel.: (613) 996-3193
Martine Perreault
Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer
Communications
NSERC
Tel.: (613) 995-8824
E-mail: martine.perreault@nserc.ca
Pascale Fortin
Communications Branch
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Tel.: (418) 649-6297
E-mail: fortinpa@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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