Kieron Testart

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. I am aware of the strategic plan, just not this consultant's report. I think that's a very important piece of this puzzle. Finally, Mr. Speaker, given that there is a need to reassess how we are providing funding to post-secondary education, will the Minister commit to looking into enriching the partnership with Dechinta and College nordique, who are private sector, private post-secondary education institutions who have shown exponential growth and an ability to leverage their own funding? Will the Minister commit to making that possible coming out of this review, the...

The plot thickens, it seems, with this third party consultant. When was that contract signed with the consultant, and how long has this work been going on for?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for those numbers. I think we all want to ensure we are getting value for money for our dollars and making the biggest impact. The students involved in this program, it's called a lifechanging program and it gives them real opportunities. So with an eye to that, does the Minister agree that this program, while not a full degree and perhaps not performing at full efficiency, will the Minister agree that this does give Northerners the opportunities to receive academic credentials to enter degree programs down south that may be lost if it wasn...

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?