Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. What is the Department of ECE's preparations to retain the nine positions lost in the Sahtu because of the community learning centres' closures? Thank you.
From the Sahtu. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by recognizing that there is absolutely an impact to communities across the Northwest Territories and specifically the staff of the community learning centres across the Northwest Territories. However, under the Aurora College Act, Mr. Speaker, the board of governors is responsible for operations decisions of the college. I know that Aurora College is working closely with Department of Finance to support staff through the process and that elements of the staff retention process and policy have been communicated to potentially affected staff, and work is underway to find potential placements for those staff. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm glad that job search is underway to assist the individuals. My second question there, Mr. Speaker, is what is the Department of ECE's position on the current learning centres' facilities or the buildings; what are the future plans of those assets? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are some community learning centres which are leased within communities and some where the infrastructure's owned by the GNWT. So in instances where it is leased by the Government of the Northwest Territories for the purpose of a CLC, the lease will be terminated. And in the instance where it is owned, we have been -- we have had outreach from Indigenous governments, communities, and organizations, and they've been in contact with both ECE and Aurora College, and they've let known what their interests are in some of those facilities. Now, of course, outreach has not happened for every single one of them. At the same time, though, Mr. Speaker, ECE does remain responsible for providing residents with access to quality programs and supports that enhance education and employment opportunities in the Northwest Territories. And so right now we're continuing to work with Aurora College to find out how adult learners will continue to be supported through the planned closures of the community learning centres.
I think it's also worth noting that through the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, there are currently GNWT processes of how to deal with assets that may be vacated and no longer used for their traditional use. So right now at this point, we've got some learning and exploring to do, and then we do have contacts from people who have ideas of how they'd like to use those facilities. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you to the Minister for that reply. I'm glad efforts are taken to make use of these facilities. I've been in a number of them, and they're ideal buildings for other uses.
So my last question: Will the Minister support a joint meeting between each Sahtu community leadership and the department so we can share the information updated and what the future plans are? Mahsi.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely to the Member's question, the answer is yes. I also have to say I've been really excited about some of the creative solutions that people are coming forward with for community learning centres. And I think that's part of our success story here, at the end of the day, is really looking creatively and at communities independently because everybody's needs are going to be different at the end of the day here. I also want to reflect, Mr. Speaker, on what the Member said as far as education being a lifelong journey, and I -- I'm certainly committed to joining the Member on that journey. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
