Speech for the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health for the International Polar Year Conference

April 26, 2012
Montreal (Quebec)

Check Against Delivery

Good Afternoon and welcome to Montréal.  I know that most of you have travelled great distances to be here.

The International Polar Year is well known and well understood in many circles; especially the scientific community.

When I explain the International Polar Year to others who don't know much about it, I like to say that we brought 30,000 of the world's best scientific minds together to answer important questions about this planet's polar regions.

We need to know more about what's happening in these regions because changes there will affect every part of this planet.

Of course, the North is particularly important to me, because the North is my home.

As Northerners, we grow up on the land, we respect our land and we learn from our land.  Changes in the air, water and ice can have a direct impact on us.

Our government is pleased be a major contributor to International Polar Year. 

Canada's investments have generated some important information about the land, the climate and the people.

Canada supported 52 research projects involving over 1,700 investigators working across the Canadian Arctic.

Canada's IPY projects were focused on the impact of climate change and how the people of the North are adapting to it.

The Inuit Health Survey, which was one of the IPY projects, has given us a new understanding of the health of Canada's Inuit and will help us measure changes in their health in the decades ahead.

IPY projects in Canada's North were accomplished with the full involvement and partnership of Northerners. In fact, Northerners were involved in the planning, coordination and implementation of IPY, including 90 newly-trained researchers from the North.

We often talk about partnerships.  Countries and organizations must work together with Northerners to deepen our understanding of the North, and we have to work together to turn that knowledge into action.

Our government is already applying what we have learned from IPY research and integrating it into our existing policies and programs.

And the legacy of the IPY will be that we will be able to make decisions about Canada's North based on solid information. It will help us find new solutions to the challenges of the North.

It has been a pleasure to see Northerners involved in this research. I know the wisdom that comes from living in the North has helped shaped each and every project. And the people of the North have benefitted in return with new training in scientific approaches.

We must also not lose sight of the fact that Canada's North is experiencing significant social and economic transformation. The economic potential is unprecedented and we must ensure that with the tremendous opportunities that development brings, we continue to advance the well-being of Northerners. Growth driven by responsible resource development, alongside the North's economy and traditional values, will benefit current and future generations of Northerners and all Canadians.

This conference will serve as a platform to share best practices of sustainable economic development and pave the way for continued discussions when Canada assumes chair of the Arctic Council in 2013.

We are one of 60 nations who have an interest in the environmental health of our polar regions and the health of the people who live there.

We hope that we have created a solid foundation of partnerships that will serve us all in the years to come.

And I know that Canada will continue to be a leader in Arctic science and technology.

Thank you; and I hope you enjoy this most important conference.