Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on May 16th, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment received a presentation from Aurora College leadership on the status of transition of public college to a polytechnic university.
Mr. Speaker, I was encouraged to hear from the president and board chair that they are committed to seeing the transition through; however, I am disappointed to note that they also shared that they are off track from the established timeline and are not expecting to be able to deliver the NWT a renewed polytechnic university in May 2025 as planned.
If we take a look at the implementation plan in the college's 2022 to 2024 mandate agreement, it is clear that a number of signs have been pointing to the transition beginning to get off track. A number of milestones have either been already missed or will be. For example, community learning centre plans were supposed to be complete in December 2023, as was a three-year strategic plan. A made-in-the-NWT degree was supposed to be identified in 2023. Organization design was scheduled for completion in January 2024. And recruitment, marketing, and communications strategy for 2024 to 2026 is also not complete. The college was also supposed to have several new programs established in fall 2024 and has acknowledged that this won't be happening either. So I think it is clear that this project is not moving forward as planned.
Although the board emphasized to committee that they were committed to moving the transition forward, they also shared that they felt the project has been underfunded and is not receiving the required support to achieve transition goals. I find this incredibly concerning, not only because of how important the project is for our social and economic development goals but also because expediency is required for this project to succeed.
The 2018 foundational review, which sparked this transition, was clear that if the decision to create a polytechnic was made that action needed to be taken quickly because the post-secondary sector is becoming increasingly global and competitive. The review was also clear that if we lost commitment to this transition along the way and allow the project to be whittled down over time, it will not result in an institution which serves to build up our future generations.
Mr. Speaker, I believe in the vision of establishing a world class polytechnic university in the NWT. My question now, at this critical moment, is whether our government is similarly committed, or are we simply going to give up and let this project fall to the wayside? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
