Speaking Notes for Parliamentary Secretary Randy Kamp (Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission) on behalf of The Honourable Loyola Hearn, P.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, to announce Funding for Six Arctic Ocean Research Projects for International Polar Year 2007-2008

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Good morning, ladies and gentleman.

It is my sincere pleasure to be here in Victoria, on behalf of my colleague, the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Minister Hearn sends his best wishes and asked me to thank you for joining us today to hear this important announcement on Arctic research.

This past March, Canada, along with about 60 other countries, launched International Polar Year 2007-2008. This is the largest-ever multinational program of scientific research focussing on the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Over a 24-month period, thousands of scientists and researchers will study a number of polar processes and their global effects.

For Canada, International Polar Year is an amazing opportunity to gain greater scientific knowledge of our North, so that we can better understand the impacts of climate change on our environment and improve the wellbeing of our northern communities.

With these goals in mind, I am pleased to announce Canada's New Government is investing $13.15 million in six projects that will study the Arctic Ocean. These projects will be led by scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the funding will also provide resources to the Canadian Coast Guard, who will be supplying vessel and logistical support.

This research will help us learn more about the role of Canada's "third" ocean in the global climate and the impacts of climate change on Arctic marine ecosystems.

Each research project is fascinating in its own right, and will help us to learn more about specific aspects of the Arctic.

The first project will tag and track beluga whales. Belugas sit atop the marine food chain, so understanding their patterns and habits are key to developing better conservation and management strategies. The tags will also collect data on water conditions, which will be used to help predict environmental effects attributed to climate change.

The second study will take a look at the effects of global warming on Arctic marine mammals, such as polar bears, seals and whales, while a third project will look specifically at Char. Char typically reflect changes in the environment in a number of ways and are therefore key indicators of the overall health of aquatic ecosystems.

Our fourth project will see two ice breakers travel a remarkable 15,000 kilometres of water as they study how the Pacific, Arctic and northern Atlantic oceans interconnect.

This project will also support Canada's Arctic sovereignty by establishing a "scientific fence" around all of Canada's oceans.

Our fifth study will be to better understand the impacts of severe Arctic weather and climate change on coastal regions along the Southern Beaufort Sea and the West Canadian Arctic, while our final study under this funding will look at seawater and pack ice flowing through the Canadian Archipelago.

Throughout these projects, our researchers will work closely with international scientists and northern communities. The research will be conducted in partnership with northern residents so that both scientific and local knowledge of the Arctic environment will complement each other. Northerners will have complete access to our scientific findings and will be able to provide a fuller context to the research.

These projects are part of the 44 studies that will make up Canada's $150-million research program for International Polar Year. This is an unprecedented amount of research into Canada's Arctic. The results of this work will make an extraordinary contribution to citizens of the world in better understanding our changing environment. And it will help Canada better predict and prepare for the effects of climate change on life north of sixty.

I know I speak for the Minister when I say how proud we are that the scientists of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard can make such a significant contribution to International Polar Year, which happens only every five decades. This is a tremendous opportunity for Canada to show that we are global leaders in the field of arctic research.

Thanks again for joining us today. We would be pleased to take your questions before touring the Sir Wilfrid Laurier.