Kieron Testart

Mr. Speaker, the government through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment provides contribution agreements to other post-secondary partners as well. Does the Minister or the department have the same relationship with those other organizations, like College nordique and Dechinta? Do they work with them on value for money on their contribution agreements or are those contributions agreements given to those organizations and they're allowed to compete in the free market, so to speak?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of recent developments with Aurora College and the announcement of the ending of two important programs for students enrolled in the education faculty, specifically in regards to the Social Work Diploma program.

In the 2014-15 fiscal year, 25 first-year students registered for this program. Out of those, six students graduated with diplomas and six graduates were hired or offered jobs immediately after ending their program. In fact, in the overall education program's division, full-time student enrolment has increased by 28 per cent in...

The honourable Member does so wish it, and I believe honourable Members of the Standing Committee of Social Development would like to see that as well, if the Minister could make that commitment to provide details of this consultant's work with both myself and Members of the Standing Committee on Social Development.

This information seems to be very new to both the public and honourable Members of this House. Can the Minister provide more detail? This $900,000 internal transfer; where is that coming from? What other programs are being impacted by this new money that's being reallocated to junior kindergarten?

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...