CHURCHILL, Man. — Three years after promising to create a High Arctic Research Station, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday that the "world-class" facility will be located in Nunavut.
"By building this leading-edge research station, we are advancing Canada's knowledge of the Arctic's resources and climate while at the same time ensuring that northern communities are prosperous, vibrant and secure," the prime minister said in a written statement, naming Cambridge Bay as the site of the new facility.
Harper made the announcement on the second day of his week-long tour of the North.
He said the research station "will be a world-class, year-round multidisciplinary facility exploring the cutting edge of Arctic science and technology issues."
The Harper government first promised the research station in its 2007 throne speech. The government said that while the station would be built by Canadians in this country's Arctic, "it will be there to serve the world."
Indeed, the government has said it hopes the facility will become a "world leader in Arctic science".
However, plans for the centre were slow to materialize, in part because he government wasn't sure where the station should be located.
In 2009, then-Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl announced that three locations were on the "short list": Pond Inlet, located near the northern tip of Baffin Island; Resolute Bay on the southern coast of Cornwallis Island; and Cambridge Bay, on the southeastern coast of Victoria Island.
In the end, the winning nod went to Cambridge Bay, which had a population of 1,477 in the 2006 census and is the largest stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Northwest Passage.
However, Tuesday's announcement does not mean the research station will appear overnight. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's 2010 budget indicated the government is providing $18 million over five years "to commence the pre-construction design phase for the station."
On the first day of his northern tour this week, Harper announced $13.4 million to upgrade the airport at Churchill, Man.
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