Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 06/99) - It is a lesson government could learn from -- before spending money on a new study, make sure the information is not already bought and paid for.

A 300-page summary of all the studies that have been published on the area between Great Slave Lake and the Arctic Coast was released last week by the West Kitikmeot Slave Study.

The WKSS, which pays for research projects with funds it collects from business and government, began in April 1996, noted board member Ted Blondin.

"The first thing we had to do was find out what studies that have already been done," said the past chairman of the study during the Dec. 1 release of the document, known as the State of Knowledge Report.

The report has saved the new Nunavut government time and money when it comes to implement the provisions of its land claim, said Allen Maghagak of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

"It has also enabled us to better understand our own backyard," said Maghagak.

The report draws on information gathered from reports ranging from the 1922 Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition to the territorial government's 1998 report, Northwest Territories Economic Framework.

State of Knowledge touches a wide variety of studies conducted on the West Kitikmeot and Slave Geological Province regions, including:

• the history of the land and people
• effects of industrial and commercial development on the people, plants, land and animals
• climate change
• permafrost

Blondin said by documenting what has been studied, the report identified gaps in knowledge of the region. He said the vast majority of studies done before the WKSS started were aimed at collecting scientific knowledge. That's one gap the WKSS has been trying to fill through projects it funds.

Over the last three- and-a-half years, the WKSS has provided a big boost in knowledge of the area, granting $5 million toward research in the area.

The study collects its money from business, mostly mining companies. Each dollar it collects from businesses is matched by both the territorial and federal government.

The study has "demonstrated a new partnership approach to gathering knowledge," said Mike Vaydik, chairman of the NWT Chamber of Mines and a WKSS board member.

The State of Knowledge report is available on the Internet at www.wkss.nt.ca. Before the new year it will also be available in public libraries in the study region.