Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. About 18 months ago, the Government of the Northwest Territories hired an executive search firm to assist in finding qualified applicants for the dual role of president of Aurora College and associate deputy minister of Post-Secondary Education Renewal. Can the Premier tell us how much the executive search firm was paid, and:

the salary range advertised for the president/associate deputy minister role;

the average cost of relocating a successful candidate to Yellowknife;

the severance provisions included in a standard deputy minister...

Thank you to the Minister for that response. It sounds like not everybody is on the same page, even now, with the bold idea to transform the college. I am wondering if you have any plans to reassure staff and students, and, in fact, to inform staff and students and the public, that this transformation is on track, it is going to go ahead, and that you are going to support it whole-heartedly, whatever the resistance?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. There is a lack of clarity about why Tom Weegar is no longer the president of Aurora College. He has told the media that he was fired, yet the Minister has told the media that he resigned. As I said in the House yesterday, I believe that the public is owed an explanation for why this man is no longer working for the government after the extensive efforts made to recruit him to this job in the first place. Can the Minister please provide clarification?

Thank you to the Minister for that. Who inspected the new hospital before it opened, and what were the findings of deficiencies, if any?

I thank the Premier for that response. It's a surprise to me, given his qualifications as the Premier enunciated them, that he wasn't appointed in the first place. Can the Premier tell us whether this appointment is temporary while a more thorough search takes place for somebody with direct post-secondary leadership qualifications?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier since it was she who released the announcement yesterday that the president of Aurora College is no longer. As the Premier is well aware from her history as the Minister, Aurora College has been through frequent leadership changes in the last three years. Now, the president the government chose just a year ago has been shown the door. My question is: why? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Premier. It anticipates my next question. There have been reports that have documented the issues of ECE's interference with the college, and I wonder, now that there is a former ADM of ECE as president, how those two functions are going to be kept separate. Thank you.

Thank you to the Premier for that response. I believe that the public is owed an explanation of why this man is no longer working for the government after the extensive efforts that were made to recruit him to this job in the first place, so I invite the Premier to consider a more fulsome response.

My second question is about the new college president who has been appointed from within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Other than his long-standing employment with the government, what are his qualifications for this job?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It's difficult to make progress toward a goal when project leadership turns over frequently and suddenly. Such is the case with the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university, a project that I support.

In 2017, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment dismissed the board of directors of Aurora College and replaced them with an administrator. In 2018, the college's president resigned, following a foundational review of the college. The review set the scene for revamping the college by hiring a new president, who would also serve as assistant...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. As the Minister is aware, the evaluation says there is a lack of understanding about the shelter's mandate and about the target audience as well as a need for partnerships to extend programming. Will the Minister commit to facilitating the creation of an inter-agency committee for this purpose?