Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the other day, on May 30th, the mayor and council of Yellowknife held a meeting to discuss whether the city should enter into a memorandum of understanding with Aurora College and the Government of the Northwest Territories about the location of the Yellowknife campus for the future polytechnic university. There were multiple media reports about that meeting which implied some concerning and misleading information about the future polytechnic university and where its main campus and headquarters will be located.
Mr. Speaker, it has already been reiterated several times by the Minister of Education that the headquarters and the main campus of the future polytechnic university will be located in Fort Smith.
On three different occasions, Minister Simpson said the headquarters will remain in Fort Smith and will not move after the transformation is complete.
First, on December the 10th, 2019, during my statement and questions, I asked about this issue and the Minister assured me there were no plans to move the headquarters out of Fort Smith.
Then on October 22nd, 2020, I again spoke and asked questions on this and the Minister said he was not aware of any discussion within the department to move the headquarters anywhere else.
Then, on May 29th, 2022, at a Committee of the Whole, Minister Simpson said the department was not going to build a new headquarters because there was already a location for it, which is Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, misinformation in the media and other political agendas must not cloud the opportunity for three strong campuses to exist with the future polytechnic university. Neutral decisions by officials in the Department of ECE need to prevail. Quotes like what was said in today's Yellowknifer newspaper should not be spoken by people in positions like assistant deputy ministers.
It is also very important that one of the first priorities of the new Fort Smith campus is to tear down and replace one of the last remaining residential school buildings, Breynat Hall, which is currently being used as a single student residence by Aurora College. This has to be a priority of the capital plan for the new university for Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I know that new infrastructure on three campuses will be sought after and constructed eventually, but I feel it is important to reiterate that the main campus and headquarters for the university will remain in Fort Smith.
Given the May 30th meeting, I feel it is also very important that the Minister himself provide some clarity on what that meeting was about and to explain it, or how that will change Fort Smith's position as the head campus.
Fort Smith has been the education centre of the NWT for generations and will remain so with the new university, as far as I'm concerned. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, people have got to realize that prosperity of a new university has got to be shared across the three existing campus locations but especially for the ones outside of the capital region. The benefits of the future polytechnic university cannot solely be gained by the capital. I just want to make that very clear today, given the information that came out on Monday.
I will have questions for the Minister of Education later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
