Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question.

Mr. Speaker, under the Aurora College Act, the Aurora College board of governors is responsible for operational decisions of the college. So this was not a decision that was made by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, so they wouldn't have done community engagement or consultations with communities for a decision that they did not make. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no concrete plan at this time until we determine some clarity around what (audio) continue to hold. There is an existing MOU and contribution agreement for Aurora College to deliver adult learning and basic education through the community learning centres. So if that is not an MOU that they intend to continue, ultimately ECE will still remain responsible for ensuring that there are education and employment opportunities within small communities, and so that work is yet to come. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am one who is eager to share my -- even my personal cell phone number with the people that I want to be working closely with. That is something that the chairperson certainly has. We also have a joint mandate agreement and the ability to get together on a regular basis and definitely try to get together on a regular basis or as much as possible.

In regards to the Member's comment about a mandate agreement, that is something that will be released within the coming week, and Members do have an embargoed copy within their inbox today.

And then in...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely hear the Member, and I agree that the goal is to have a strategic plan go out where, you know, we're answering all of the questions that we know that residents are going to have about the forward looking of a program and what the future holds. Ultimately, ECE will remain responsible at the end of the day for ensuring that residents have access to quality programs that support education and employment, and so right now, the work that ECE is doing is gaining clarity on, you know, what parts of adult learning and basic education Aurora...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is in luck. The Minister of housing and I really enjoy working together. We have already had multiple conversations about this and have already provided direction to our departments and look forward to sitting down with the departments, continuing those conversations, and then being able to share the outcomes of those conversations with Members within probably the first or second quarter of this year. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Aurora College transformation has a very detailed website. The one thing I will note is that the dates associated with the timeline need to be updated. But it does have a website that outlines everything that needs to happen. It has GANT charts. It has timelines with all the details of all the different steps, who is responsible for those steps. Three of the remaining transformation outlines include the GNWT. Those would be things like the legislation that I was referring to. And then there are some that are definitely under the purview of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the board of governors is currently working on a new set of timelines for the transformation and once those are finalized, those will become public. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, well the contractor is the one that is making a commitment off the hop on a commitment they are making through a contract and through a bidding process to the government. So they would, I would hope, would know what commitments they're making in their own tendering process right from the hop. That being said, one of the things that we will be implementing coming up here is training for contractors so that they understand the expectation of all contracts, they understand how businesses are registered and comply with BIP, that they understand...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, a few things, businesses have to meet the eligibility requirements of BIP and then those businesses, of course, are audited on a biannual basis. And then also we have our vendor performance management policy as well as the -- which was put out in 2023. And then in 2024, the guidelines were put out so that both the staff of the GNWT would understand what is expected and required, and staff do undergo training. And then in future we will be putting out training for contractors as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the timeline of the transformation has everything from new legislation that would be polytechnic university legislation. It has a new funding formula for Aurora College. And it has things like very program-specific things like, you know, when different programs will become available through the college. Thank you.