NUNAVUT - A team from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada visited Cambridge Bay, Pond Inlet and Resolute earlier this month to assess which of three Nunavut communities will be awarded the High Arctic Research Station.

"It gave us a good chance to meet and get a sense of community members," said Nick Xenos, director of INAC's Arctic science policy.

The federal team did not spend much time in the three communities, in some cases staying less than a day. But in each they met with the hamlet councils and administrations, took brief tours of the community and held open meetings for members of the general public to come, talk and listen.

In an interview with Nunavut News/North, Cambridge Bay's SAO Stephen King cited communications infrastructure as one of the community's assets. Cambridge Bay is one of the few places in Nunavut with cell phone service.

He said the community is also a regional centre for air travel, with frequent flights and a long runway. The largest of the three communities under consideration, Cambridge Bay offers amenities such as a Royal Bank branch, one of only three in Nunavut.

Duncan Walker of Resolute said his community's ongoing work with the scientific community and the various businesses that have emerged to support it are its main assets. Resolute already has an outfitting business and an air charter company, both specifically geared towards meeting scientists' needs. He also cited Resolute's location in the heart of the Northwest Passage, which INAC has expressed an interest in monitoring.

Pond Inlet's senior administrative officer Mike Richards cited Pond's long history of scientific research, based out of a now-derelict research station that shut down about 10 years ago. There are ongoing studies of whales and the animal life of nearby Bylot Island, and the unique Arctic climate conditions of Lancaster Sound.

INAC's visit to the three communities was part of a $2 million feasibility study by the federal government to determine not just the station's location but the research focus it will have. The choice of location will have an impact on the speciality of the station's research, according to Xenos.

For example, Resolute's location would offer easier access to the most remote islands of the High Arctic, while Cambridge Bay's nearby Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary is an area of scientific interest.

Xenos said the visit would not be the last to the communities under consideration. The feasibility study is expected to run until summer 2010. INAC will make its recommendation to the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, who will pass it on to the prime minister and cabinet for a final decision.Xenos said the choice would be scientific, not political. Pond Inlet and Cambridge Bay have benefited from the Government of Nunavut's policy of spreading government offices across the territory. Resolute has not, but has been home base to many federal and university-funded research projects.

"We have series of information we're going to try to collect on the scientific potential," said Xenos. "Whether one community is decentralized or not, I'm not sure if that's going to be a major factor."

The High Arctic Research Station will bring jobs in the facility's construction and maintenance and assisting with scientific research in the field.