Nunavut to host High Arctic research station: Strahl

One of three Nunavut communities under considerationwill be the site of Canada's new High Arctic research station, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said Friday.

Making the announcement in Iqaluit, Strahl said the federal government will spend $2 million on a feasibility study to determine where the research station should go: Pond Inlet, Cambridge Bay or Resolute Bay.

The government has promised since 2007 to build a world-class research station in Canada's High Arctic.

Strahl said he has received input from everyone, from northerners to scientists around the world, on possible locations for the facility.

"What they came back to us with is, they said it needed to be on the Northwest Passage [and] it needs to be in the High Arctic. There's other people that can do other research, but we need something in the High Arctic," he said Friday.

Strahl said people have also said the research station "has to have good transportation and a good way to get to these facilities, because there's going to be a lot of activity there.

"And really, the only ones that fit all the criteria are the three locations here in Nunavut," he added.

The community of Pond Inlet is located near thenorthern tip of Baffin Island in eastern Nunavut. Resolute Bay is in central Nunavut, on the southern coast of Cornwallis Island, while Cambridge Bay is on the southeastern coast of Victoria Island in western Nunavut.

The government's feasibility study is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete.

Strahl also reminded people Friday about $85 million earmarked in the latest federal budget to update existing Arctic science and technology facilities. That money is available over the next two years.