Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment talked about shiny new campus in Yellowknife. Can she give the House an update on the progress of the Aurora College campus here in the capital? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Mr. Speaker, I don't have any information at my fingertips right now as far as the you know, when these things will appear in the capital. I would love to get an update on that for committee, and I can commit to doing so. But, really, there's a lot of steps that need to happen before we end up with a bricks and mortar institution anywhere in the territory in addition to what we have right now. I know that in speaking to the board governors, their prime focus right now is student housing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think that's the point of the new campus, is student housing. So what does the Minister know about student housing here in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that the board of governors has identified that as their primary goal of how they'd like to start building some new infrastructure. They've identified that not just in Yellowknife but also in Fort Smith and also down the road in Inuvik. And I can also update this House that it is something that they're very focused on and that they acknowledge that it is a need in the territory in order to make sure that students have an opportunity to have somewhere to hang their head at night so that they can make it to class, and that place needs to, of course, be affordable. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's becoming increasingly obvious that there's a disconnect between the board of governors and the ministry. Can the Minister commit to working with the board of governors to better understand their needs at bringing a quantifiable, tangible, proposal forward to a standing committee of this House so we understand what they need to be successful in this transition? Because they are saying they are on a knife's edge, and I don't want to I, for one, don't want to see them teeter over. I want to see them succeed. I want to see our students succeed. It just seems like we're not at the same place here, and can the Minister commit to getting us to running the ship, getting us to where we need to be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm in a very interesting position where it's not really my story to tell. It's the Aurora College's story to tell. It's the board of governors' story to tell. So just like last time when I it's not my story to tell. So my last time when I was in front of this House, I recommended to committee that they have Aurora College in front of them. They have done that. And I recommend that they ask Aurora College what their schedule is as far as their master plan for their facilities and also for their housing and what they are doing in order to achieve those goals. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the Minister gives that the institution $32 million, and then some, every year, so this is very much her story to tell because she's the one funding it. So will the Minister commit to, if not exploring how we can improve this relationship, putting some accountability matrix on that grant, so if Aurora College isn't hitting these timelines, isn't making progress, then they lose their grant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that it's fair to say that given the investment of dollars from the GNWT into the Aurora College transformation, along with the investment of dollars from the federal government into the transformation, that there are many people that want to see this happen. There's also a number of people who are sitting on the board who have said they are passionate about seeing this happen. It's also worthwhile acknowledging that the positions through the Aurora College transformation also came from the surplus of Aurora College. Aurora College carries a surplus. And so, Mr. Speaker, there are dollars that are available, and I think, yes, that there needs to be a conversation about how those dollars are being used to see this transformation through. I absolutely agree with the Member that a significant amount of public dollars go to Aurora College and fund Aurora College, and those dollars are approved by this House, Mr. Speaker, so I look forward to seeing how that conversation evolves on the floor of this House. Thank you.
