OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/27/09 -- Thanks to an investment by the Government of Canada, a local northern company will receive funding to help improve communities in the Northwest Territories. On behalf of the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians, announced that Ollerhead & Associates Limited has been awarded a $638,000 contract to conduct a legal survey on a Canada Lands parcel on Melville Island.

"Our Government is pleased to support this project - the survey serves a great purpose for our citizens in the North," said Minister Strahl. "This investment means new employment and training opportunities for the Inuvialuit and a real boost to the local economy."

Yellowknife-based Ollerhead has hired local Inuvialuit to conduct the survey and assist in the camp. The land to be surveyed is part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - an area where, through the land claims process, jurisdictional responsibility over certain lands, resources and land uses has been transferred to the Inuvialuit. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Inuvialuit Settlement Agreement.

The contract was awarded to Ollerhead through a competitive bidding process and is being administered by Natural Resources Canada's Surveyor General Branch. The Surveyor General is mandated through legislation and land claims agreements to manage property and boundary survey programs for the Government of Canada.

Since 2007, the Government of Canada has been advancing the Northern Strategy by investing in the North to provide enhanced economic opportunities, social benefits and stimulus to local economies to help create jobs and ensure Arctic sovereignty.

These investments include $100 million over five years to fund the Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals program to support field research projects that record samples of mineral compositions of the North; $200 million over two years for the renovation and construction of new housing units in the North; $37.6 million to support initiatives related to the proposed Mackenzie gas project; $50 million over five years for the creation of a northern economic development agency; and $90 million over five years for the renewal of the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development program.

FOR BROADCAST USE:

Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Chuck Strahl, on behalf of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, today announced a $638,000 contract for Ollerhead & Associates Limited of Yellowknife to conduct a legal survey on a Canada Lands parcel on Melville Island in the Northwest Territories. The survey will produce new employment and training opportunities for the Inuvialuit while also boosting to the local economy.

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