Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education has made several statements about a need to ensure value for money at Aurora College, and I need to ensure we have adequate programming to support our fiscal bottom line and the contribution agreements -- the government's and Aurora College's fiscal bottom line. I wonder if that's not part of our strategy moving forward. I've asked questions in this House, to the Minister, about an apprenticeship strategy, and I was told money will not be allocated to that until the plan has been put into effect. Do we have a working draft of that...

Thank you. I'm sure those partners will be interested in receiving additional funding from the Minister moving forward. In this specific area of reduction, the Minister spoke about value for money. How many students were enrolled in the social work program, and what is the cost per student of that program so we can get a clear sense of the value for money?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've had a lot of discussion about Aurora College in the past, and building a sound post-secondary education system in the Northwest Territories. The Minister recently mentioned that reduction targets were passed along to Aurora College. Who set those targets? Was it the Department of Education, Culture and Employment or was the department somehow involved in setting those reduction targets? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, why are these decisions being made ahead of the strategic plan? I listed a number of them in my Member's statement, but we've seen a heavy equipment operators' facility, the termination of this diploma, aligning Aurora College with the labour market forecasting. These seem like strategic moves, so why are we making these decisions and reducing the contribution to Aurora College ahead of the release of the strategic plan? It seems like we are rushing to make changes without letting the public and Members of this House know exactly what is happening with our...

Thank you to the Minister for that. It's good that we're giving more handson direction to the college, as they take a lot of our funding and, in fact, nearly all of our postsecondary education funding to provide these services.

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister believe that the college is properly resourced? Could the $3million reduction that's being proposed in this budget have anything to do with the termination of programs such as the Social Work Diploma degree?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke of the Aurora College. The Aurora College has reached the termination of their Social Work Diploma program. I wonder if the Minster can provide some detail on that and why that decision was made, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories is very important to me. I believe it is a way we can bring transformational change to the Northwest Territories and give a real future for our residents, and invest in our young people, allowing them to pursue opportunities here at home in the North and not have to leave to the South.

I've been quite dismayed to learn from constituents and students at the college that they were abruptly told the Social Work Diploma program has been cut from Aurora College and will be phased out by 2019. This has caused a...

Maybe I'll be a bit more clear. The money that's being re-profiled to junior kindergarten, where is it coming from within the department? I understand that it may not impact in schools, but what government program delivery in the department is it impacting?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been some more news on the junior kindergarten implementation as reported by CBC. Department officials in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have now said that the full amount of funding that the government has committed to over the life of this Assembly will now be implemented this fall, including $900,000 that has been found internally. The officials are quoted as saying, "The funding will be ongoing, and it's going to be added to the school board budgets each year." Can the Minister confirm if all that information is correct...

Does this move by the college fit into the mandate of this Assembly and the direction it has set?

One of the things a Northern Social Work degree can do is help implement the TRC recommendations and help with the stated goals of reconciliation. I know firsthand that one of my constituents would prefer to work with an Indigenous social worker, with recent dealings with the health system. Does this move fit into the mandate? Can the Minister be clear in how it fits into the mandate, to cancel this program?