Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, yes, once the associate deputy minister for post-secondary renewal is in place, he, she, that person will be responsible for utilizing both the Aurora College foundational review and the internal review on the social work program that was done by the college.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their review.

This bill seeks to extend the term of Student Financial Assistance Appeal Board members from two years to up to four years. It also seeks to amend the qualifications for the post-secondary student representative on the appeal board to include individuals who have been a post-secondary student within five years of their appointment.

This bill will allow board members to establish continuity...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, like I said many times, as soon as that person is in place, the first priority of all the evaluations is to be the social work program and the degree in education; that will be a priority. So, yes, that evaluation had better happen in the life of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What I'm hoping will be left when this is done is that we will keep the strengths that are offered within the social work program currently and also address the weaknesses that have been identified in both reports.

I would be shocked if we did not fill the position. We have had applicants from across Canada apply, and I have even gotten three that came across my desk as a Minister, so I am not even sure why that would not happen, that it would not be done.

As the Member had spoken before, I do not know if it was a hockey puck or a football, but this is not a game, Mr. Speaker. This is about building a strong foundation. We need to do things in proper time. We need strong leadership to guide this forward. It is not appropriate that a Minister who does not have the expertise in bringing forward post...

No, the Minister cannot make those changes immediately. There are significant changes to be made. One is deciding where we want the transfer of credits to go or if it wants to be stand-alone. That is one issue. The other issue is it talks about having third- and fourth-year courses in the first year of a student attending university. That is not okay. That sets up our students to fail. That needs to be changed, and it talks about how to change that, combining it with other general arts throughout the other programs, but that has to be negotiated. This is not something that you just...

It is well-known that my degree is also in social work, and I have a personal commitment. The Social Work Program is also identified in our Skills 4 Success in the top 10 positions in the Northwest Territories coming up, but I need to put aside my personal biases. This needs to be a review that is done by the person who is the expert, and that will be the associate deputy minister of post-secondary renewal.

There are things, yes. The current staff that are in the Social Work Program can help with program curriculum, but can they build the relationships with universities across Canada? Is that...

For this school year, the program is providing support for students who are trying to finish up. Next year, it won't be happening. It's really important to note that the internal review did not just give an outline that says, "Here's to go." It gave options, similar to the Aurora College foundational review. Some of those options were either stay with the program using the University of Regina, looking at other universities so that the credits are more transferable, or doing a standalone university, and each one of those takes time to be able to research them and get them correct.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.