Thank you, Madam Speaker. Before I begin I want to make note that I am certainly sorry that my passion and frustration got ahead of me earlier. I acknowledge that and I never intended to use “vexatious” as a particular word. I didn’t plan that in any way.
What that does, though, is further stress my frustration about this whole problem. There’s an apparent wall between the board of governors at Aurora College and the students, if I may describe it as a protective barrier. The letter clearly states about process, process, process.
I guess I will say this to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: under Section 7(1), the Minister can give direction to a board such as the Aurora College governors, and further, the Minister shall, under 7(2), determine the policies respecting operations of the college.
I am asking, will the Minister, who represents us through Education, Culture and Employment, tell, instruct, or direct the board of governors at Aurora College to meet with the students to hear their concerns directly and not be afraid of them by instructing them to follow process, process, process? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have already made a commitment in the House that I will be meeting with the board of governors’ chair and also the president, both of them together, to highlight the Member’s concern that the board of governors should be meeting with the students.
I don’t want to be in a position to dictate to the board of governors or the district education councils or authorities to tell them what to do. We have to work hand in hand. We have to work closely together between the departments and agencies, so we continue to strengthen the relationship we have with the agencies and DEAs and DECs and the board of governors as well.
I made a commitment and I will follow through with that commitment. Mahsi.
The Minister just said, “I don’t want to be in a position…to tell them what to do.” Let me remind the Minister, once again, that he’s in charge and if he doesn’t want to be in charge, that’s okay, because there’s probably an opening over here if he doesn’t want to tell them what to do.
Under Section 7, once again, the Minister has the authority to provide them direction. Under Section 7(2), they can provide direction through policy. So if he’s not interested, I’m not sure what the problem is.
The letter he received was cc’d to him, went to me, and said basically they will get to it when they get to it through process. Here is an occasion to get down to the level of the students, meet with them, get involved with them and find out what’s important to the students.
Will the Minister stop talking about this administrative, bureaucratic talk and say yes, I’m going out there today and telling the president and the chair of the board of governors that you will meet with the students and today we’re going to do business differently? Thank you very much.
Yes, I did make a commitment to sit down with the board of governors. Mahsi.
The Minister is in possession of the same letter I am that they wrote to me on February 6th. They basically say they’re not going to meet with them. The only way they meet with them is when they bump into them at the store or on the street, if they run across them in another meeting. There is no formal commitment. If anything, there is a commitment saying we’re not interested.
So, the Minister is saying he is going to meet with them. What exactly is he going to tell the college that they’re going to do and how are they going to do it?
This is an area that I need to have a discussion with the board of governors of the college, having a direct dialogue with the board of governors and the students. We have to have an open dialogue. That’s a discussion we need to have with the board of governors, the board chairs and the president. You know I have the authority, but I need to sit down with them first to see what kind of discussions they’ve had in the past and how we can move forward. Those are discussions, and I’ve made a commitment in the House to proceed with that and I’m going to do it, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I guess I’m going to say, in short, if this board, be it the chairperson, the board of governors and the president refuse to meet with the students, is the Minister prepared to start with a new slate of governance to find a group of individuals that care enough about their students to hold meetings with them? Thank you.
Mr. Hawkins, that’s technically a hypothetical question, if all these things happen what would the Minister be prepared to do. Could you think of some other way to reword your question? Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
