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Fisheries and Oceans Canada
News Release
NR-HQ-07-36E
July 11, 2007
Canada’s New Government and University of Manitoba Launch Canada’s
Largest International Polar Year Research Project
WINNIPEG -- Today the Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, joined the
University of Manitoba for the official launch of the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System (CFL)
Study, the largest project in Canada’s International Polar Year research program.
The CFL Study is based aboard the Canadian Coast Guard research icebreaker, CCGS Amundsen,
and includes project team leaders from the University of Manitoba, the Université Laval, the
Université du Quebec, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), and DFO.
“The Circumpolar Flaw Lead System project will provide us with vital scientific knowledge
regarding the interactions between climate change and the ocean ecosystem,” emphasized
Minister Toews, on behalf of the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
“Our new government’s support for this initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to Canada`s
Northern region. This project will help us make informed decisions to protect our oceans,
the environment and the well-being of all Canadians.”
The CFL Study will receive a total of $20.5 million from the Government of Canada Program for
IPY, including $6 million in research funding and $14.5 million in logistical ship support. Over
the next four years, the project team will also receive $768,000 in research funding from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and $4.2 million in
infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Manitoba
Research and Innovation Fund. The study is led by Dr. David Barber, Canada Research Chair in
Arctic System Science, and Director of the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the
University of Manitoba, and co-led by Dr. Gary Stern, DFO / University of Manitoba and
Dr. Jody Deming, University of Washington, USA.
"Canada’s New Government is proud to take a leading and fundamental role in this important
international Arctic research initiative,” said the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of
Industry and Minister responsible for NSERC and CFI. “This project will help us manage the
wealth of the North in a sustainable way. This wealth can be used as a springboard to create a
vibrant, diversified northern economy.”
“The flaw leads that Dr. Barber studies are valuable sources of knowledge because they are
among the most biologically productive areas of the Arctic ecosystem,” noted Dr. Suzanne
Fortier, President of NSERC. “I am also very pleased that NSERC’s component of the funding
for this project will support a very large number of graduate students, thus ensuring that a new
generation of Canadian researchers will be in place in future years to build on the work being
done now.”
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“The CFL study is a tremendous undertaking that will provide vital new insight into the effects of
global climate change on the environment and peoples of the circumpolar Arctic,” said
Dr. Joanne Keselman, Vice-President (Research) at the University of Manitoba. “We are
extremely proud of Dr. Barber and his team, and we congratulate every one of the more than
200 researchers who will play a part in this unprecedented collaboration.”
- 30 To learn more about the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study, please visit the project’s Web
site: www.umanitoba.ca/ceos
To learn more about Canada’s International Polar Year initiatives, please visit the Government of
Canada’s International Polar Year Web site: www.ipy-api.gc.ca
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Leah Janzen
Communications Manager
University of Manitoba
204-474-8034
Phil Jenkins
Media Relations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
613-993-5413
Andrew Hannan
Media Relations
Industry Canada
Ottawa
613-943-2502
Internet: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (News release)
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