Global polar research seeking $150M

Finance minister Ralph Goodale will decide soon whether to approve $150 million in new funding to support Canadian participation in a two-year global study of the polar regions. The funding would support participation by Canadian researchers in the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 — a two-year global initiative that will see approximately $1 billion spent by more than 100 nations to conduct interdisciplinary scientific programs focusing on the north and south poles.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), which coordinated the proposal on behalf of the government and academic research communities, returned to Cabinet June 22 with a scaled down request for $150 million. An earlier proposal for $350 million had been turned down. The federal Budget also contained no dedicated funding for IPY.

Liseanne Forand, ADM Northern Affairs at INAC, says her department will be able to release details of the plan once it’s approved, which she hopes will be soon.

“We made the point (to Cabinet) with respect to IPY that there is some urgency in terms of timing and getting ready, and we believe we were heard on that,” she says. “We’re hoping for something relatively soon, but whether it would happen this week or not, I couldn’t say.”

Canada is expected to play a major role in the IPY, as both the host country for IPY and because of its large polar landmass. However, Ottawa’s political turmoil and fiscal belt-tightening are threatening to leave Canada red-faced internationally if its researchers are under-funded.

Application deadlines for funding are closing in quickly. The IPY international program office in Cambridge UK received more than 850 Expressions of Intent in March, with about 50 identified as possible lead projects around which others could be clustered. The deadline for full proposals is June 30.

The Canadian IPY secretariat is based at the University of Alberta.

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