Thank you, Mr. Chair. My apologies for the delay. As you know, the department has been pretty busy the last little while here. We'll get that information to Members tomorrow. Thank you
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think I heard the Minister say tomorrow; is that correct? Okay, great.
My next question is I believe it's in the business plan that there's some mention of an accountability framework being developed for Aurora College. Can the Minister or his staff tell me a little bit more about what that accountability framework is all about? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Deputy Minister Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the request for the mandate letter, and I don't want this to sound circular, but there is a reference in the mandate letter that the Minister has provided to the college the development of an accountability framework. We are doing that collaboratively with the college over the next year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister Haener. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Great to hear that the accountability framework is mentioned in the mandate letters, but can someone explain just a little bit more about this? Presumably, it's some sort of a system to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and what they're doing and whether targets are being met and so on. Is that what this accountability framework is all about? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's the intent of this accountability framework. As you see, we do have a contribution agreement with the Aurora College for quite a lot of money and we want to make sure that dollars are being spent effectively, efficiently, and that they are held accountable to the dollars that we are providing them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. That is sort of what I had assumed the accountability framework was all about. Can the Minister now explain why these cuts are being made to Aurora College contributions before the strategic plan is finished, before an accountability framework is finished? Then we might probably have a better understanding of where the college can become more efficient and effective. Why make these cuts in advance of those exercises? It just doesn't make any sense. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Aurora College was given a target for reductions. They worked in collaboration with our department, looked at the programs within the services that they provide, and as I have mentioned and said in the House, the graduation rates were very low coming out of these two programs. That was the decision that was made by both the Aurora College and our department moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the explanation from the Minister. I don't agree with the process the department has gone about with this. Let's just get a little bit more detail about when was Aurora College told that they were going to get their contribution cut? Just a ballpark figure. Middle of September? When did that happen? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That was done in September of last year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Presumably, when the board of directors found out about the cut, they would probably have developed a revised budget for the college for the year. Was that revised budget submitted to the department? About when would that have happened and when would the department have approved it, or when would the Minister have approved it? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The process was that in September we approached Aurora College with reductions. They came back with revised reductions that they wanted to see in November. Those were finalized. Those revisions were put into the main estimates in December and sent to P and P.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So okay, now we have the paper trail right. The department told the college about reductions. They came back with a revised budget. That was then approved by the Minister and the department. The Minister has known about the cuts to these programs for several months, and now word is coming out about these because of e-mails to students and so on. Regular MLAs, we weren't really told about what was being reduced or cut in terms of the programs offered by the college. Once again, poor communications. Just unacceptable that this is the way that this sort of thing takes place. Again, it is being driven by the fiscal strategy and targets set by Cabinet. I think that is all I have to say about this, Mr. Chair. Just not a good way to go about planning and delivering on post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you. I take that as a comment. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we were working on the potential reductions with the Aurora College, we did send information to the clerk's office to share with the standing committee. Once the revisions were made, we did send that to committee as well, and the main estimates in December, I believe. It might have been December 20th. I would have to confirm the dates with that. I do believe Members should have been aware of this last year at some time. Then January 9th, I believe, was the very finalized draft in the main estimates that was presented to committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Next we have Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am wondering where I would find the contributions to College nordique and to Dechinta Centre for Learning, if the Minister could help me with that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Lovely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You will find the contributions to those two institutions under adult post-secondary education. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Lovely. Mr. Testart.
Thank you. What is the total amount for both institutions that our government currently provides? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just recently we increased the funding to Dechinta to the tune of $500,000 per year. It is a multiyear agreement with them. We don't have the specific details on College nordique, but we can look at getting that. Last year, we did provide funding to College nordique of $354,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Has a new agreement been worked out with College nordique to support them moving forward in excess of that $354,000 or is that funding going to be stable for the next fiscal year as well, as represented by this budget? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We continue to work with College nordique on a year-to-year basis and look at how we provide them with funding. We continue to have a good partnership with the institution. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Perhaps, I will clarify. Unless I misheard, the Minister said that previous fiscal, this government provided $354,000 in funding to College nordique. I am wondering what we are providing in this budget for the coming fiscal year? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Historically, we have always worked with College nordique in terms of funding. The year previous to the amount that I have given for last fiscal year was even significantly lower. We will continue to work with them. I don't have the exact line item for this budget with me, but I can get that detail and share it with the Member.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will appreciate receiving that information to properly understand how we are supporting our post-secondary partners. I note that the line item for adult and post-secondary education is $34.5 million. Can the Minister confirm if the majority of this goes to Aurora College? It looks like $31 million goes to Aurora College. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right. The majority of this funding in adult and post-secondary education does go to the Aurora College. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Testart.
So by my math, there is almost $32 million going to the college and then around $1 million going to College nordique and Dechinta. Does that account for the total amount of funding for post-secondary education, or is there some left over that is going somewhere else? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and yes that line item is fully utilized, so there are no dollars left over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Testart.
