Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe now more than ever, we have to ensure that our plan to create a polytechnic university is on track, and ideally, I'd like to see it sooner rather than later. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Is the current timeline as set out on the mandate to establish a polytechnic university on track? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All the activities planned to be completed in this Assembly are still on track to be completed in this Assembly. Like everything else, the last two months has been exclusively focused on COVID-19. We are about two months behind in a lot of ways, which has pushed some of the things I was hoping to have done this summer back a few months. Other than that, things are on track. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think one of the most important conversations we're going to have regarding a polytechnic is whether there is a flagship programming; what new programs will come out of it? I understand this is the work that will be done as part of the strategic plan that I hope to see soon. I recognize two months' delay is understandable during COVID. Can the Minister update us on any decisions that have been made in regards to new programming for the polytechnic university?
No. This isn't the forum where those would be discovered. There won't be decisions made behind closed doors that someone has to ask me about. It's going to be a much more transparent process than that. What's happening right now is that there is a plan in place, and it's been refined. A lot of the work has been done, and I spoke about this, not in the last sitting necessarily but the first part of this sitting which we had back in February/March. I had a plan, and I was taking it to Cabinet so it could then be shared with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. I am just bringing it to Cabinet this week, and then hopefully, the standing committee can see that plan Thursday or Friday. It will lay out the steps that we are taking.
I look forward to seeing that plan and the timeline for it. Another big, key question in getting this polytechnic off the ground is getting the capital funding, specifically, the capital funding from Ottawa. I know there was work to be done at the Fort Smith campus, work to be done at the Inuvik campus. Yellowknife is looking at the possibility of a new campus. Can the Minister update us on any progress that has been made towards obtaining the capital to building new infrastructure for the polytechnic?
That's part of the work that we'll be undertaking in the coming months. We need to come up with a facilities plan. There is clearly work that needs to be done at all the locations, and then, there's work that can be done in the communities as well in terms of the community learning centres and the different types of access we can have there. We are undertaking that work, creating a facilities plan to let us know exactly what we need. I'm anxious to get that money, too, but it's hard to go to the feds and say, "We know we need something, but we don't have a plan for you just yet." They don't want to give you money without a plan. Once we get that plan, then I'm confident the money will start rolling in.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of my concerns is that, as Aurora College kind of sits in this limbo, we don't seem to be investing in new programming because we want to wait to get the strategic plan in. I get that, but I'm a little concerned that we're not building the programming we have as we grow into a polytechnic. Can the Minister update us of whether there's any plans to introduce new programming into Aurora College, whether due to COVID-19 and the inability to have classes in the fall, will any programming be cut; how the programming looks due to the situation we're currently in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don't know if this is necessarily the time to be introducing new programming. The landscape has changed, and we went from in-person to distance learning in the matter of weeks. The focus right now is on preparing for distance learning, at least for the first semester. There is no plan to add new programs. However, the Member is right that we do need to grow our programming, and that's part of the transformation work, part of the strengthening of the foundation, ensuring that the administrative processes we have in place support the growth of programming. Maybe we take some of the administrative burden off of teachers and faculty. That's the type of work that's under way, as well.
We also have a new program review process, one that is nationally recognized. It lives up to national and international standards. Programs will be added or removed based on that. We're not just going to cut a program to save a couple of bucks. We're going to make sure going forward that we are doing this like a university would. This is going to be a world-class institution, and we're going to do things like we're a world-class institution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
