Julie Green

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As I had mentioned in my statement, residents of the NWT expected that a brand new hospital would be better than the old one, but, so far, the new hospital has been plagued with problems, especially with plumbing and heating. My first question to the Minister is whether the new hospital has a warranty and whether that warranty is still in effect. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer on that. I am looking, really, more at specific communication that would take place with the staff and students at Aurora College. Apparently, they didn't see this change in leadership coming. They feel uncertain about their own places there and about the future of the college, so is the Minister going to make an effort to talk directly with students and not only get their buy-in to this change, but to reassure them that he is, in fact, in charge? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister clarifying that. One of the things that the former president has said is that he felt a strong resistance to change from the college administration and that this factored into his decision. Is the Minister aware of this issue, and what does he plan to do about it?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, in Saskatchewan, the government is paying for a third-party audit of construction following similar problems at the North Battleford hospital. Is the Minister willing to contract a construction audit of the new Stanton hospital so that we get an overall picture of the ongoing problems with the building? 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...

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.

I thank the Minister for that answer. The origin of this change in policy is the recent evaluation of the combined day centre and sobering centre. Can the Minister say when that evaluation is going to be shared with service providers and with us, so that we are all on the same page? Mahsi.