Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Nunavut as part of his annual northern tour. Photo: Government of Canada.
Stephen Harper says by 2020 entire Canadian North will be geo-mapped
Canada is spending more money to geo-map Northern Canada to promote resource development in the region, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Thursday in Nunavut.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, centre, and Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, discuss the geo-mapping of Canada’s North with Natural Resources Canada’s Dr. Donna Kirkwood. Photo: Government of Canada.
The announcement came during Harper’s tour of the north and he was joined by a number of senior cabinet ministers, including Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Bernard Valcourt.
The Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals program was launched in 2008 and to date has produced 700 maps. Harper says that if discovering minerals in Canada’s North is like finding a needle in a haystack, the government’s geo-mapping program helps find the haystacks.
“As a direct consequence, private investors are now looking for nickel on the Melville peninsula, searching for diamonds on Baffin Island, and copper, silver and gold deposits have been found in Yukon,” Harper said in a press release.
The government expects that by 2020 the mapping will have completely covered the Canadian North. The geo-maps will be made accessible to industry investors, land-use planners, government and community agencies to as part of resource exploration and development.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the geo-mapping announcement in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Photo: Government of Canada
“Now, the first phase of this program is scheduled to end this year, but it has been so successful and so much of the North remains to be mapped that in our judgement, it would be foolish to stop now,” said Harper.
Canada’s investment in resource exploration will continue to unlock the full economic, mineral and energy potential of the region, while generating new government revenues, private sector investment and jobs, says Harper.
“We’re also publishing new findings on the energy potential of Hudson Bay to our east, and we’re uploading geological data for 11,000 square kilometres of the Duggan Lake area in the west of the Kivalliq region,” he said.
The Prime Minister touted the ability of the mineral wealth of Northern Canada to create jobs and prosperity for Northerners and workers across Canada.
“While we expect all Canadians from coast to coast to coast will benefit from the North’s coming mining boom,” he said, “Northern development must mean jobs and prosperity for Northerners themselves. Prosperity here, jobs now; that is essential.”
According to Harper, the Conservatives support sustainable economic development in the North. The new geo-mapping is part of the Government’s efforts to invest in science that locates natural resources in the North, streamlines the regulatory processes required for the private sector to develop these assets and trains Northerners so they can secure well paying jobs being generated by new exploration and mining ventures.
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