Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about change management, and today I want to continue that thread and speak to the state of the Aurora College transition. Despite reassurance from the board and president that they are committed to the transition, every indication and metric I see is clearly communicating that the transition has ground to a halt and, if anything, is in the process of being openly reversed. Responsibility for this lies on both the Ministers and the board's shoulders, but there were a number of critical change management elements missed along the way when GNWT was firmly in control. One is anchoring the change firmly throughout the corporate culture of the organization. It is clear this never happened, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, CBC News shared a story detailing how research chairs were hired, immediately encountered significant internal barriers to carrying out their work and ended up leaving the organization in short order.
Another fundamental change element is clearly articulating a vision, Mr. Speaker, and despite years of work and some apparent progress, it's clear the vision didn't stick during the hand-over process. This part rests with the Minister of education who is responsible for articulating a mandate to the board. The college's current mandate expired in July, and we are yet to see a new one. The Minister needs to give clear direction about the vision for this project and steps needed for it to succeed. If the direction is that we are proceeding with the transition, we need to be decisive about it. If not, at least tell us that's the case so we can have that unwanted conversation. Personally, I want to be clear that I am not supportive of continuing to fund the college in its current form. We already paid for the analysis. We already found that the college wasn't working. Continuing with status quo is never going to change outcomes, and we owe the students of the NWT better than that, Mr. Speaker.
To end on a positive note, I want to share a glimmer of hope. The former research chair, quoted in the CBC story, noted he still believes there is a lot of potential for knowledge economy growth in the NWT, and I've heard that message from so many people who are working in this field here. The potential is there, Mr. Speaker. The question now is whether we have the vision and wherewithal to grasp it. I will have questions for the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Next on my list I have is the Member from Range Lake.
