Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 08/02) - vvvvvvvvvvv

Industry Minister Allan Rock and Secretary of State for Children and Youth Ethel Blondin-Andrew made the joint announcement last Wednesday, outlining the scope of the government's research plan.

Climate change, Northern diet, forest fires, fish resources, and permafrost stability are the topics to be explored by six new university chairs, hand-picked by Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

"It's an outcome of what happened a couple of years ago," said NSERC spokesperson Norman Marcotte.

Marcotte was referring to a report tabled by the council in September 2000, entitled "From Crisis to Opportunity: Rebuilding Canada's Role in Northern Research."

The report recommended the federal government increase funding because relatively little is known about Northern geography, ecology and climate.

Northern organizations will benefit from partnerships with researchers and there will be a training component as well.

Such partnerships will include Aurora College and community based organizations.

Terry Dick, a biology instructor at the University of Manitoba and one of the new research chairs, will travel extensively across the NWT and Nunavut starting next month, studying Northern fisheries and aquatic systems.

He said areas of concern include NWT's plans for more hydroelectricity development projects, the sports and commercial fishery, and diet as it relates to the quantity of fish.

"It's a real dilemma," said Dick. "You have this good source of protein in the North, and you have this sports fishery. A lot of these sport fisheries are not locally owned. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in that."

The funding announcement comes on the heels of a Senate fisheries committee report delivered to the government less than two months ago.

The report concluded that funding for research in Canada's North is woefully low.

Committee chair Senator Gerald Comeau said last week's funding announcement is a good start, but he would have liked to have seen even more.

"The dollar amount is not anywhere near the amount to take us in the right direction," said Comeau. "I think the challenge is greater."