Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm Pierre Fogal, a senior research associate with the physics department at the University of Toronto, and I serve as site manager of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory—usually called PEARL. I'm talking to you today in reference to the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, but we have little specific knowledge of that, as it is an entirely new entity that has yet to take its place among the working research stations of the Canadian Arctic. However, as my experiences with PEARL may be of use, I will speak to those.
As you may know, PEARL is located in the High Arctic in the vicinity of the Eureka weather station at approximately 80° north, 86° west. This is accessible only by chartered aircraft or by yearly Canadian Coast Guard sealift. PEARL consists of three facilities: the PEARL Ridge Lab, the big red building often seen in photographs, is approximately 15 kilometres by road from Eureka; the Zero-Altitude PEARL Auxiliary Laboratory, which we call 0PAL, is located at the weather station; and the Surface and Atmospheric Flux, Irradiance, Radiation Extension Site—SAFIRE—is located approximately five kilometres east of the weather station near the Eureka airport.
The PEARL Ridge Lab was originally constructed for Environment Canada and operated as the Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Observatory from 1993 to 2002. At that point it was shuttered as part of cost-cutting measures. The Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change, CANDAC, with Professor James Drummond as the principal investigator, reopened and renamed the facility in 2005, and we as CANDAC have operated it since that time, with the majority of funding coming from various federal government initiatives, such as the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, and later through the Canadian climate change and atmospheric research fund administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Currently we are operating on a special 18-month extension of our NSERC funding, until September 2019, but beyond that the future is unknown.
There are many challenges to operating a High Arctic research station. The most obvious of these is dealing with the local conditions. Perhaps not as obvious are the long lead times built into virtually every decision. Much of that is driven by the sheer remoteness of stations like PEARL. There are no local sources for materiel, fuel, or food, not to mention scientific equipment. This is compounded by the transportation limitations imposed by the need to either fly goods in or to ship them via sea once per year. Any large item or collection of supplies travelling by sea will not arrive in Eureka until late August, the tail end of the outdoor working season. Flying supplies in can happen in a more immediate time frame, but at a significantly higher cost. Good planning and flexibility help, but timelines for large projects always seem to begin a year in arrears due simply to the difficulty in delivering materials to the Far North.
Inherent in the reality of long supply lines with a long-term timeline is the need for stable funding for periods that are longer than typical. Timelines in the Arctic are generally rather longer than would be required for similar activity in southern Canada. If construction work is required, then that is exacerbated by the very short season available. Thus, funding for ongoing projects needs to be sufficient to cover the realities of greater expense, expensive shipping, likely delays, and all of the other costs associated with working in very remote areas. If a project is anticipated to continue to exist, as in the case of both PEARL and CHARS, then the future funding sources must be known well in advance of the termination of current funding to permit for both proposals as needed and planning.
It is also the case that when dealing with operations in the Arctic, some flexibility in fiscal management can ease the repercussions of setbacks. If northern suppliers are to be used—and this is our preferred approach—then providers with known qualifications and Arctic experience are a significant benefit. Furthermore, there are decidedly fewer options to choose between, and the easing of financial management requirements recognizing that sometimes there is only one supplier, and placing greater weight on experience, would almost certainly yield a cost and time benefit.
In closing, I will note that CANDAC PEARL has been in operation now for 13 years, and throughout that time it has carried out successful programs of atmospheric science that have been recognized nationally and internationally. Additionally, our presence in Eureka is synergistic, allowing other groups in other disciplines to operate in Eureka far more easily than they might otherwise have, because they make use of our facilities or services. Further investment in scientific research and development in the Arctic would lead to similar returns.
I thank you for your time, and I am willing and available for questions as needed.