Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about the future of post-secondary in the Northwest Territories. I want to be crystal clear; I appreciate the hard work that happens at Aurora College, and I think if there are any issues that need to be addressed, it needs to be addressed by this government. Aurora college is unique in Canada and perhaps the world in how it is funded, how it is operated, and we see a lot of involvement from this department in the day-to-day operations, program course offerings, all those kinds of things. We need to cut the strings on this, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister if he envisions a future for Aurora College where it will become an independent university or post-secondary institution that is research-driven and has the academic freedom to be accountable to government funding but completely separate from the GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently at this time, no. We do have public funds that fund the Aurora college, and we partner with them to look at their program services that they provide to residents of the Northwest Territories. What I can let the Member know is that we are working currently on an over-arching legislation that will bring other possibilities of post-secondary institutes here to the Northwest Territories as well working with Dechinta Research and Learning Centre, College nordique, that will offer those opportunities. So we are on the right path. Right now, we're going to work with Aurora College. We do fund them through public dollars to do those programs and services for the people of the North, but I think as we move forward, after the foundation review is complete as well the legislation, working on developing that, we'll start to see that this government is moving in that direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm not advocating that the public funding for the Aurora College be cut; far from it. There are other universities in Canada that receive public funding, but are independent academic institutions. So can the Minister reassure me and others that, for the nearly $30 million we invest in Aurora College's operations, we are delivering the highest-quality programs that can stand up in other jurisdictions, without proper accreditation? Can the Minister confirm that what the students are learning at Aurora College can be used elsewhere in Canada?
Yes, I know one of our best programs that we do have at Aurora College is the Nursing Degree Program, and we're also working on this foundational review that's going to address some of the accreditation quality assurance concerns that Members have brought up on numerous occasions. That foundational review, we should have that to me by the end of this month, and we'll be taking a look at those recommendations that are going to be in that final report moving forward. I hear what the Member is saying, and moving forward, we want to make sure that anyone who takes any programs with any of our post-secondary institutions will be able to have that opportunity to go and practice their career and their training elsewhere throughout Canada.
I heard one program involved. So out of all of the program offerings at Aurora College, can the Minister give me a percentage of how many of those meet accreditation standards outside the Northwest Territories?
I don't have that detail of the percentage of programs that are being currently run throughout any of our three campuses in the Northwest Territories at the moment, but I can look at getting that information for the Member and sharing it with him.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment. Mr. Speaker, the other areas that are required for a successful university or post-secondary institution are independence and, of course, an institution driven by research. Aurora College has ARI, the Aurora Research Institute, but what it doesn't have is an independent board. When will the Minister reappoint an independent board so the college can be at arm's length from government and control its own affairs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As Members of the House know, and I'm sure the public knows, we are currently going through a foundational review. I did mention that that review is going to be given to me by the end of this month, and we will be creating a management response to that review. In that review, governance is a topic of priority to take a look at. So once we get that foundational review, we will develop a management response to some of those recommendations. Should the board be one of the recommendations, we will take a look at it, and once the management response and the review is complete, we will be sharing that with committee members, all Members of the Legislative Assembly, and our stakeholders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
