CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT CONTINUES ITS COMMITMENT TO THE NORTH

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Iqaluit, Nunavut (September 25, 2007) - The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, today announced funding for 10 International Polar Year (IPY) projects which focus research on human health and environmental impacts of climate change in the Canadian North.

"Canada's New Government is taking an active leadership role in our North to ensure that we can sustain and protect it for generations to come," said Minister Strahl. "Today I am proud to announce new International Polar Year research projects that will advance our understanding of the North, help us to develop Northern resources in a sustainable way, and improve the quality of life for Northerners and all Canadians."

The projects include:

• Carbon, Microbial and Plant Community Dynamics in Low-Arctic Tundra
• Climate Change Impacts on Canadian Arctic Tundra
• Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Wastewater in Arctic Communities
• Environmental Change and Traditional Use in the Old Crow Flats in Northern Canada
• Impacts of a Changing Arctic Tree Line
• The Impacts of Oil and Gas Activity on Peoples in the Arctic
• Measuring the Impact of Climate Change on Landscape and Water Systems in the High Arctic
• Monitoring the Impacts of Global Change on Caribou and Wild Reindeer and their Link to Human Communities
• Northwest Territories Ice Patch Study
• Polar Ecosystems in Transition: An Interdisciplinary Investigation into the Impacts of Climate Change on Polar Bears

A total of 44 Canadian research projects were selected for IPY 2007-2008 funding by the Government of Canada in March 2007. At an event today in Iqaluit, Minister Strahl announced $17 million in funding for 10 research projects studying the effects of climate change in the Canadian Arctic.

Over the course of the program 1,250 researchers will conduct Government of Canada funded IPY research in 67 communities and at research sites throughout Canada's North. It will help stimulate prosperity for Northern communities by delivering new skills and training, introducing new technologies, and identifying new economic opportunities.

Backgrounder - International Polar Year Projects and Funding (INAC)

For further information - International Polar Year 2007 - 2008

 

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