Mr. Speaker, I am still getting a lot of feedback from the public on this whole Aurora College. I do have possibly one question to the Premier. That is: when the Premier terminated the Aurora College president -- I am not referring to an associate deputy minister. I am referring to the president -- what did she base her decision on, what in the Aurora College Act, or was it the Public Service Act or other areas of acts that I am not familiar with? Can she please provide me and also the Members a copy or a section of such act that she based her decision on to terminate the Aurora College president a couple weeks ago? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Honourable Premier.
[Microphone turned off] The Minister of Education would like to address the question. Thank you.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be signing the revocation papers for the statutory appointment of the president of Aurora College. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would still like to know the process of what happened. The public needs to be aware how the decision was made. All I am asking for is: what was the decision based on? If that can be provided to me so at least I have some information in front of me that I can share with the public, as well.
Last week, the Premier and I sat with the Regular Members in confidence, just the elected Members, the Regular Members, the Premier, and I, and we discussed this issue in detail. We took questions from the Regular Members. That is where it is going to stay because this is an HR issue.
I am not mentioning names here. I am mentioning the president of Aurora College. The document the Minister is referring to is not a signed document yet, today. Other signed documents in the past have occurred based on what decision that was made from the Premier of the day. I would like to know. The public would like to know. Here, we talk about being a transparent, being an accountable government. Please provide that information to me so I can have and I can explain to the public this is what occurred based on the facts, based on the act that was before us.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to try this one more time. I tried to explain many times the other day that hiring and firing the employment contracts is separate than appointments. I will give some firmer examples. My job is to hire and decide termination of assistant deputy ministers, deputy ministers, et cetera. Ministers are allowed to appoint to positions such as boards, presidents, et cetera. I'm going to use an example that perhaps the Member can understand, because he was a Minister, I believe, for at least four years, of education. Within that, when that was happening, under the Education Act, Principal Certification Regulations, the Minister may appoint a director of the Principal Certification Program. This does not mean that the Minister must be the person who terminates the employment relationship. Under the Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupation Certification Act, the Minister may appoint a director of Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupation Certification. This does not mean that the Minister is the person who terminates the employment relationship. Under the Child Daycare Act, the Minister may appoint a director of child daycare services. This does not mean that the Minister must be the person who terminates the employment relationship.
As the previous Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I'm assuming that the Member would be familiar with these statutory appointments and should appreciate that, just because a statutory appointment might be part of a person's job, it does not mean that the applicable Minister who made the appointment is responsible for governing the employment relationship.
I'm not sure why this is so confusing, Mr. Speaker. I do know that the Member was also the Minister of Justice. However, if we need further clarification on the difference between employment contracts and an appointment by a Minister, I am more than willing to have our justice department sit with the Member to explain the difference. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. I don't know how difficult it is to provide the answer of a policy-based decision. What was it based on? Was it based on an act? I'd like to know. I was being forthcoming with the Aurora College Act, stating in section 19 that a Minister, through consultation with the Aurora College Board, shall appoint the president of Aurora College. I'd like to know, the Premier, when she made her decision, what was it based on? Please provide that in writing to me. Which section is it based on, of the act, if she is referring to an act, so I can have that information? It's not only me who is asking; it's the public, so I can share with the public who are asking those questions. I think we need to clarify that, Mr. Speaker. Masi.
I did give many examples of places where Ministers do appoint, and that they are not responsible for employment offers. However, since the request is to have the answer in writing, I will make a commitment to have it in writing, but I also stand by my commitment that, if the Member is still confused, even though he was the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, my offer is still there that we will have someone from the department of Justice sit with the Member and explain the difference between an appointment and an employment contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
