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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Research facility price tag? $1
NDP calls sale fiscally reckless
The Canadian Press archives Tory MP Joyce Bateman says the government wants $1 for the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario. (CP)
OTTAWA -- Anybody have a dollar?
That's the going price for the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area research facility.
The price was noted by Manitoba Conservative MP Joyce Bateman in a June 2 letter to a constituent in which she reiterates her government's plan to transfer ownership of ELA to a university or private business.
"This facility will be very attractive to them, especially given recent investments, and the federal government is committed to offering a transfer of ownership for a nominal fee of $1," Bateman wrote.
The price tag of $1 will net the buyer 40,000 square feet of research and living space in 19 buildings. Ottawa has invested $3.5 million in the buildings in the last 10 years, including $850,000 for three new labs as part of the Economic Action Plan in 2009.
NDP MP Pat Martin said it's fiscally reckless for the government to be selling such a valuable asset for a pittance.
"They just dumped millions into it and they're willing to hand it over for a buck?" he questioned.
The lakes on which research is conducted are owned by the Ontario government.
Last month, ELA scientists were told the government is getting out of the project and cancelling its $2-million annual budget in 2013 because ELA no longer is aligned with its priorities.
"The freshwater research being conducted at a variety of other facilities across the country will meet the research needs of the department." said Erin Filliter, director of communications for Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield.
In her letter, Bateman said there is still federal funding available for ecosystem research, including "similar ongoing lakes research being done under the auspices of Environment Canada in the lakes of Saskatchewan."
Six former ELA scientists wrote to Bateman saying they were astonished by her letter.
"We find much of the information that you have included to be factually incorrect, incomplete and misleading to your constituents," they wrote, on June 11.
They took issue with her saying the research done at ELA no longer aligns with the department's priorities of fish populations, climate change and ecosystem management.
"The ELA is carrying out research specifically addressing the objectives and goals of DFO that you have listed in your letter," they wrote.
They attacked her suggestion the number of projects being conducted is down but costs are up, saying the number of projects has not declined and the operating costs are the same as they were in 1990, "without adjusting for inflation!"
Raymond Hesslein, who worked as a senior scientist at ELA for 30 years, said while there is research being done on lakes in Saskatchewan "to compare it to the work going on at ELA is a crazy comparison."
Scientists from around the globe have lobbied the Conservatives to reverse the decision on ELA, noting the facility is the only one in the world doing entire ecosystem research on freshwater lakes. Its work has led to global policy changes on issues such as acid rain, hydroelectric dams and mercury.
Bateman did not respond to a request for an interview.
Hesslein said he doesn't know the government's motivation for selling the ELA, but said at the very least the government should give ELA more than nine months to try to find new funding partners.
Filliter said the government is working "diligently" to transfer the facility to a third party. However, sources close to the ELA say none of the stakeholders has been contacted, including the universities that do research at the facility and Friends of ELA, a non-profit group that raises money to support ELA research.
Filliter would not say whether the minister would consider extending the ELA's funding if no buyer is found by April 2013.
"Recent upgrades to the facility should make this unique location even more attractive to potential third parties," she said.
In August 2008, reporter Bartley Kives and photographer Mike Aporius spent two days at the Experimental Lakes area and produced these videos:
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 14, 2012 A4
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