Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is related to a statement I gave a couple of weeks ago related to the importance of postsecondary education. Now that we've established our priority of having a strong economic foundation, I wanted to ask the Minister some questions about the college transition.
So first, can the Minister first describe to me the department's relationship with Aurora College now that the Aurora College board of governors has been reestablished? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, in the course of the last term we did a lot of work on legislation to do with Aurora College. So we had the Aurora College Act itself that was done. We did the PostSecondary Education Act, and we also had the opportunity under the previous Ministers to reestablish the Aurora College board of governors. And in terms of my role within that, I provide as Minister responsible for postsecondary oversight of the NWT postsecondary system as a whole, and including holding postsecondary institutions accountable under the Aurora College Act itself and the PostSecondary Education Act, and then there's also now, because Aurora College is arm's length and has its public board reinstituted, the board of governors is responsible for oversight of the operation matters to do with Aurora College and then Aurora College is responsible for the programming that occurs within its institution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I note that a new president has been appointed to the college, and I congratulate Ms. James on her appointment. Can the Minister tell me what role she or the department had in the recruitment process?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in short, none. And the slightly longer more informative answer in that is that under the Act, because Aurora College is arm's length, the board of governors oversees hiring of the president and the president reports directly to the board chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for the answer. The third question is how does the Minister provide direction to the college, and how is the college held accountable to the priorities set in the Legislative Assembly and the priorities of the funders of the college; how are they held accountable to the Minister and this Assembly? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not responsible for operations within the college itself, but I am responsible for the oversight and also the funding provided to the college. And I do have a few accountability tools that I can use in that role. So the first, of course, is regular discussions with the chairperson and regular checkins, and I can state that we've already started those together. There's also the strategic mandate agreement, and the agreement sets out the operating parameters of the college itself and is developed by the college with input from ECE and with approval by myself. And then there's the accountability framework as well, which will be coming and implemented in the 20242025 school year. This framework is for all postsecondary education institutions, not just Aurora College. And the reporting required sorry, it will outline the reporting required by ECE every year and will help identify the financial stability of institutions and programs, whether or not they're operating effectively or not. So those are some of the tools, and some of those will be, of course, publicly reported to my colleagues in this House.
Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister agree to the board chair and president of Aurora College appearing in front of a standing committee should the committee make such a request? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. As the Aurora College is arm's length and it is its own institution, the chair would be able to be contacted by the committee and be invited to appear in front of committee. I think it would be a great idea for committee to form that relationship with the college and be able to understand the board of governors' vision and where they'd like to take the college. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
