Shane Thompson

I thank the Minister for his commitment on that. In regard to the social work program, we have heard about low enrolment in that. What has the government or the college done to find out why we are not having success? Has the government or the college actually done an assessment of it and found out why the students have not done that? I would like to ask the Minister if he can provide any information.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, in speaking with the students, they are not feeling cared about by the college. In fact, they feel like they are not important, nor are the residents of the NWT. To make matters worse, the college and the department are agreeing to a $300 term increase, which works out to be $600 per year. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise if this is the way for the college to recover some of the shortfall the government is proposing on them in this year's budget process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke about the message the college is giving the students. It was about aligning the GNWT expenditures to projected revenues, how GNWT departments have been tasked with identifying expenditure reductions. This sounds like a reduction exercise for the college. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm this was the message that the department had given to them as they started their budget exercise?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank my colleagues for allowing me to finish my statement. By $300 for this term in 2018-19. Mr. Speaker, I find it very interesting that the college is taking more funds from the students' SFA to cover the costs. To me, it's taking money from Peter to pay Paul. This is very disappointing, to say the least.

Mr. Speaker, the e-mail goes on to say:

In these difficult economic and changing labour market requirements, we have had to re-examine the way we do business in order to set Aurora College up for long-term stability and success. To assist us in moving forward...

I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess this leads to my next question. Will the college be willing to share with us over here the results of this study or this evaluation, so we can look at the programs, so we can make an informed decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today in the House I asked some questions about a mandate letter from the government to the college. Will the Minister commit to this House that he will actually show us what this mandate letter was? We have seen other deputy ministers' mandate letters, but we haven't seen the Aurora College one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to this Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Development has concluded its review of Bill 13, Marriage Act, and wishes to report that Bill 13 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for his answer. That is encouraging. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about how the college communicated with its students via email. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise this House if the college has a communication policy that they use when informing students about changes and if this policy was adhered to on Thursday?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment answered our colleague from Kam Lake that he heard about the news from the college that the social work program was being cut. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please tell this House when he heard the social work program was going to be phased out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This past Thursday in my reply to the Budget Address I spoke about the importance of communication. Well, that very day at 9:00 a.m. students who are taking the Social Work Diploma course were told that the class would start a bit later. At 9:30, the staff came in and said that the students would be receiving an e-mail from the college on what was happening. When asked the question, they were told that they could not answer anything until the e-mail was sent to them.

Mr. Speaker, at 10:23 a.m. the students taking the social work program were informed that they were the...