Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Aurora College Act under Section 8.(2) says, “The board, in exercising its powers and performing its duties under this act and the regulations, shall act in accordance with the direction of the Minister.” I won’t read the previous Section 7, which allows the Minister to provide direction to the board, because I’ve read that in the House repeatedly. I’ve asked the Minister of Education to provide e-mails to the Board of Governors and to tell the Board of Governors of Aurora College to have town meetings with their students. Has the Minister done such a thing? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The first time the question was raised in this House I did instruct my deputy to follow through with the president of the college to provide the e-mail address on their website for the general public to have access to them. So, based on that, it should be in the works. If not, then I need to follow up on where it stands. But that was the last discussions we had with the college. Mahsi.
Thank you. I look forward to being informed when it’s officially done.
I’ve asked the Minister to encourage or, better said, to tell the Board of Governors to meet with its students at each of the campuses. How better to get an understanding of who you’re supposed to be helping than meeting them?
Has the Minister told the Board of Governors that it would be a good idea to meet with the students at the three campuses?
I need to work with the Aurora College Board of Governors. At this time, this is an area that we’re discussing. I don’t tell them what to do, but I work with them. I do have authority under me as the Department of Education, but at the same time I feel that working together will resolve a lot of these issues and they do have Board of Governors meetings on a rotational basis between the three campuses and even more going into the other communities as well.
So, this is an area that the Board of Governors is reaching out to those students that should be heard, and if not, there’s also a website, there are also e-mails that should be available now for the Board of Governors as well. Mahsi.
I think the Minister meant to say e-mail addresses are on their way, not on the website. I just double-checked while I was there.
Why is this Minister concerned about the feelings of the Board of Governors and not suggesting or giving them direction, which is well under his authority under Section 7 of the Aurora College Act? What is he concerned about? Is he worried about hurting their feelings? Because he’s in charge for the best benefit of the college, the students and certainly the direction the MLAs provide.
Would the Minister of the Department of Education, who is in charge to provide guidance of Aurora College, tell the Board of Governors that it would be a darn good idea to actually meet the students at each of the three campuses, to get to know them because they are there to help them? Thank you.
Mahsi. What I can say today is that it is happening with the Board of Governors when they’re meeting at each campus, they allow opportunities for students to express their concerns as well. As the Minister, I continue to work with the Board of Governors, like the school boards across the Northwest Territories, I work with them.
So we need to build on our relationship that we have and I will continue to do so. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The public easily gets to meet their MLAs, their school board trustees, their city councillors, their town councillors, their mayors. The list goes on.
Would the Minister be willing to step up to the plate and show a little accountability from a Minister’s point of view to direct the college Board of Governors to have open town hall meetings and welcome their students? I don’t know why this seems to be such a difficult challenge for the Minister to provide this type of direction. The students deserve the opportunity to speak to their Board of Governors in an open forum to tell them their needs and certainly deliver their expectations of these governors. Thank you.
Mahsi. I will be sharing that with the Board of Governors. If this is an area that they can possibly build on their meetings that they have had on a rotational basis into their campuses, an open door policy perspective. So I will be sharing with the Board of Governors. Mahsi.
