Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk once again about the Aurora College Thebacha Campus and future polytechnic university headquarters.
Mr. Speaker, I want to again reiterate to this House about the role Fort Smith has historically had with the education for the people of the NWT. In 1967 when the NWT changed its capital to Yellowknife, it was agreed upon by the leaders of the day that in exchange for the loss of the capital, Fort Smith would become the education capital of the NWT. Ever since then, the head campus of the Aurora College has been in Fort Smith and many prominent elected leaders from across the NWT have gone to school in Fort Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with certain directions that Aurora College has been taking regarding to its transformation into a polytechnic university. I particularly repute the notion that there will not be a headquarters with the new university. I strongly disagree with the college president dismissing the terms "headquarters" and instead favouring the phrase "administrative centre." I do not want to see Fort Smith diminished in the role it will play within the future university, because I know that Fort Smith will continue to play a vital role within the future of the postsecondary education in the Northwest Territories, just as it always has, and I will make sure of that.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education has reiterated several times throughout this term that the headquarters of the future polytechnic university will be in Fort Smith. On December 10th, 2019, on our first day of session after choosing the Cabinet, the Minister said that there will be no plans to move the headquarters out of Fort Smith. Then, later in October 2020, the Minister said he was not aware of any discussion to move the headquarters anywhere else. Then in March of this year, the Minister said ECE was not going to build a new headquarters because there was already a location for it in Fort Smith. Finally, in June, during our last sitting, the Minister said there's no plan to move the administrative headquarters from Fort Smith to Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, as the MLA for Thebacha, it is my duty to look after the people and the interests of Fort Smith and the broader South Slave region; therefore, I will do whatever I can to ensure my community will thrive and prosper in the future. And I know that the university will be part of that future, even after I'm gone. That is why I will continue to ensure that Fort Smith is the location of the headquarters of the future polytechnic university.
I would also like to thank the Minister for agreeing to meet with the leadership of Fort Smith to discuss the transformation of the college. I will have questions for the Minister of Education later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
