Joint task force warns of impending crisis and calls for new northern research program

A joint task force is strongly recommending that the federal government take immediate steps to begin restoring research capacity in the Canadian north to ward off a major environmental and social crisis. It is recommending a sweeping five-point plan that requires $23.5 million annually to fully implement, including the creation of 70 research projects and a slate of 24 research chairs modeled partly on the Canada Research Chairs Program.

Conducted jointly by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the aptly study - From Crisis to Opportunity: Rebuilding Canada's Role in Northern Research - found northern research in a sorry state of neglect and verging on a national disgrace. Withdrawal of federal funding in the 1990s has created a recipe for disaster in the university research community, which is largely dependent upon federal funds to work in the north.

"When we looked at the situation in the north, it was at least as bad as we had thought," says Dr Tom Hutchinson, chair of the task force and a professor with Trent Univ's department of environmental and resource studies. It's gotten so bad it's embarrassing for Canadian researchers. ...The faster the recommendations are done the better. We believe they will make a significant difference. NSERC and SSHRC will likely put in seed money, but the funding we're asking for is new money."

The Canadian north is facing a series of major challenges which, if not properly addressed within a coherent policy framework, could have dire consequences. The report contends that accelerating climate change, a high birth rate, resource exploitation and widespread pollution are factors which must be the focus of intensive, coordinated research. Canada's research activities in the north have never been substantial, but with declining federal support, many programs have been reduced or terminated, and Canadian scientists are forced to join foreign research programs to participate at all.

The final report of the Task Force on Northern Research represents the culmination of nearly two years of work identifying issues and problems related to northern research and proposing a package of remedies. The recommendations only cover university research but imply that the federal government must also bolster its depleted northern research capacity to ensure that the current and future research needs of the north are adequately addressed.

"If we reinvest on the university side, it is necessary for a reinvestment on the government side as well," says Elizabeth Boston, secretary to the task force. "The recommendations are for an NSERC/SSHRC program, but it focuses strongly on the need for partnerships with the federal governments, northern communities, aboriginal groups and NGOs."

To date, both SSHRC and NSERC governing councils have approved the report's recommendations in principle, and will be provided with further details when they reconvene in October.

The report closely follows the release of a framework and two-year research plan for northern S&T by the Interdepartmental Committee on Northern Science and Technology. That body is expected to make funding recommendations of its own within a year. The NSERC/SSHRC task force acknowledges the committee's work as an important initial step, but says Canada's lack of an S&T policy for the north is a major shortcoming that must be addressed. It points to the US, which has a strong Arctic Research and Policy Act, and spends far more on Arctic research than Canada. The National Science Foundation alone has a $300-million annual budget for northern research, compared to $2 million allocated by Canadian granting councils.

As a result, the number of Canadian researchers focused on the north has declined dramatically, and their average age is older than the general faculty population. Particular note is made of the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP), which has been laid waste by a declining budget and logistical support, leading to aging field stations, fewer researchers and lack of modern equipment. The report states that the precipitous state of the PCSP has had a particularly harsh impact marine research. Growing interest in the Northwest passage for commercial and military shipping is raising calls for an increased research presence as "an essential assertion of our sovereignty".

RESEARCH CHAIRS

The task force places its highest priority on the research chairs program as an effective and long-lasting way to deal with pressing issues in conjunction with northern groups, communities and organizations, as well as international researchers. In addition to providing high-level training, some chairs may actually be located in the north, helping to develop a critical mass of expertise.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Modeled on NSERC's Strategic Projects program, northern research projects account for 30% of costs estimated for full implementation of the recommendations. 70 multidisciplinary projects would be initiated, fostering linkages with a wide variety of partners including industry. Participation by non-university organizations would be a requirement for project approval and would help address the high costs of conducting research in the north.

CURA NORTH

The program is based on SSHRC's successful Community-University Research Alliances program and is intended to build strong partnerships between university researchers and the people of the north. Non-university partners would be expected to make cash or in-kind contributions for research "centred on areas of mutual importance and closely related to the existing strengths of the university partners".

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