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, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague for allowing me to clarify this situation a little bit. I am not going to speak to the reasons for termination. That is the Premier's domain. That position served at the pleasure of the Premier.
I will note that I was aware last week that there was going to be a meeting between Dr. Weegar and the Premier. I didn't know what the ultimate outcome of that would be. I do not know if it was presupposed.
Late last week, I discovered that Dr. Weegar and the GNWT would be parting ways. I wasn't privy to the conversation, so I do not know if the conversation ended with a firing, per se, or if it ended with both parties agreeing that perhaps it was time to part ways.
On Tuesday, after the media release was issued, I received an email sent on behalf of Dr. Tom Weegar that stated, "After much contemplation and soul-searching, I decided to step away from post-secondary education leadership for the time being," which led me to believe that he was stepping away from post-secondary leadership education for the time being, voluntarily. That is why I made the statements that I did.
It has come to light, however, that this was, in fact, a termination. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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?
Change is always hard. I assumed years ago or, rather, when this was first discussed in the Assembly, that it would be difficult to change. Actually, one of the first meetings that I had, I think the very first meeting that I had with Dr. Weegar, I asked him if he was getting any resistance and, if so, that I wanted to work with him to ensure that we made these changes.
I am all in favour of developing a world-class, arm's-length university here in the Northwest Territories. There will be some changes. There will be some bold changes, and I am fully in support of those. Going forward, maybe it is something that I need to be a little more forceful with, more alive to, but I am confident that the team that we have in place now can implement those changes.
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?
Yesterday, responding to questions from the Member for Yellowknife North, I committed my support to this project. I think that this is an amazing opportunity. I am privileged to be part of this transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university, and I am whole-heartedly behind it.
I have been having conversations as of late that we need to do a better job explaining this to the public, and so, moving forward, I am going to be releasing more information about what we are doing. We have a plan that is nearing completion, an implementation plan, which will lay out the next steps. That is going to be ready for release after the sitting in the summer, but I have decided that we need to fill that information void and get some more information out there so that everyone can be excited, because this is a great opportunity for our students; it's a great opportunity for the people of the territory, because we're going to be able to fill a lot of these positions that we can't fill right now; and it's a great opportunity for all of the communities where the college is located, because I expect that every community with a university campus will benefit economically.
Thank you, Minister. Final question, supplementary. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
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.
Direct communication with the staff and the students is part and parcel of the type of communication that I want to do, and I will be reaching out, and I will reinforce my commitment. Like I said, this is a great opportunity. I am lucky to be involved with it, and I am going to see it through to completion, and we are going to wind up with a world-class university in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for NTPC. Yesterday, my colleague questioned the Minister regarding the board. The Minister stated that DMs are not DMs when they are sitting on this board, but then he stated that Deputy Ministers are using their skill sets to run it. This is in Hansard. So how can we ensure that the DMs who are not DMs are impartial when making decisions that are made when it is involving their departments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I apologize. They are not DMs, but the skill sets that they have are actually helping the board run. Right now, we are filling them in that position until we get the governance model moving forward. We have asked them to come up with a governance model, and we are utilizing their skill sets to do this job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The NWT needs to trust this government, as my other colleague has said today. I know that the Minister has asked the chair and the board to come up with a governance model and options, but these are the DMs, not the DMs on this board. Can the Minister have this board made up of regional reps sooner than later?
I want to do it right. I have given them clear directions. I have asked them to come up with a model that works for the North. Is it a model of public interest groups and individuals across the territories to do it? Is it a combination of utilizing government and non-government people? I have given them three or four options to look at so that they can come to us with a better option to run that corporation.
Right now, I am going to stick to what I have asked them to do, and I am willing to work with committee once we get this information. I have to work with my colleagues, and then I have to work with you guys to come up with this. It is about doing what is right, and it is great to say, "Yes, I'll make a decision now." You can't do that. This is why sometimes we in government get ourselves into difficult situations.
Unfortunately, no. I have given them some clear direction to give us some parameters, some options, and they are working on it.
The impartial part: how can we ensure that decisions by this board, and they represent different departments, that we know that they are being impartial?
Good question. I trust that they are going to do this. I know that I will be having a meeting with the board when I can fit it into our schedule. They have made a commitment. They have made an oath. They have signed a document saying that they are going to be impartial. They are looking out for what is best for the Northwest Territories. That is what they are there for. We have looked at their skill sets, and that is how we got them in place right now. I am going to trust them moving forward, unless they break that trust, and then, as the Minister, we make some quick decisions after that.
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 employment contract; and
the standard severance cost of ending a deputy minister employment contract at the one-year mark.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Written questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. In light of the alarming rates of incarceration that Indigenous people face in the Northwest Territories, I submit the following written questions to the Minister of Justice:
In the past 10 years, what programs and initiatives has the territorial government launched to keep Indigenous people out of jail, and what do the evaluations of those various programs and initiatives conclude about effectiveness of each?
What proportion of territorial prison staff are Indigenous, broken down by employment category, especially management, program delivery, and guards?
What proportion of territorial prison staff is dedicated full-time to counselling, vocational training, and educational upgrading for inmates, and what share of the total correctional system appropriation is allocated for those purposes?
What has our correctional system done to enhance access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment of offenders suffering Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and similarly, what non-traditional approaches have our courts adopted for dealing with such offenders?
What progress has the Minister's department made in response to the 18 separate "calls to action" contained in the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission report relating to justice and correctional matters?
Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table two documents relating to my Member's statement and oral questions earlier today. First, a joint letter from Fort Smith leadership, dated June 17, 2019, regarding the Fort Smith airport infrastructure, and a letter dated July 8, 2019, which was a reply from the then-Government of the Northwest Territories Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Tabling of documents. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents. The first is the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action," and the second document is the "United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." These should be our guiding principles as we move forward as a territorial government. Masi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi.
Members, I wish to table the "Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly – 2020: Independent Auditor's Report, Early Childhood to Grade 12 Education in the Northwest Territories – Department of Education, Culture and Employment."
Orders of the day for Friday, February 7, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.:
Prayer
Ministers' Statements
Members' Statements
Returns to Oral Questions
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to the Commissioner's Address
Petitions
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Motions
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Motion 1-19(2), Setting of Sitting Hours by Speaker
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Colleagues, this House stands adjourned until Friday, February 7, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 3:12 p.m.
