Construction of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) and operation of the CHARS science and technology program will create jobs across the North and more specialized sectors in other parts of Canada. It also will stimulate business in Cambridge Bay and the local area. Northerners will acquire skills and experience that will help them get jobs in many industries—from mining to energy, to natural resource and wildlife management, and to health and life sciences.
Hi! I am Nick Xenos. I am the Director of Arctic Science Policy with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. We are the team that is leading the building of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station.
We have had a lot of great progress in the past year on the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. First and foremost, the Prime Minister was there at the end of last summer and he announced funding for the construction, equipment and fit-up of the research station and announced ongoing science funding for the research program at the science station.
We have also gone forward and hired the architects. So, we are working with them this year to finalize the design of the station. So, that is the layouts, what the site will look like, and what the building will look like in the inside and on the outside, and how that will all come together.
Part of what is very important, of course, is that we have been talking to the community as well. We have gone out twice and we will go out again to consult the community within the design process and ensure the centre reflects where it is, in Cambridge Bay. We will finish the design process this year and early next. Then, get into construction in the last few years and be ready for 2017.
We are also on the science program side, refining the priorities, looking at the priorities the research program will have. The priorities will include things like supporting responsible resource development, looking at infrastructure, research in the North in terms of building it in the North, on permafrost, and looking at sea ice, transportation and areas like that.
We are also looking to hire a chief scientist, so, that will be posted soon. Over the next six months to a year we will go through the process of hiring the chief scientist, which will be a key position that will lead the implementation of science in the North.