Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in February 2017, I stood up in this House and asked the Minister of Education to undertake a foundational review of Aurora College. I asked because I believed the college was both underperforming and underutilized. Education is the cornerstone of every prosperous society. With a presence in 24 communities, Aurora College is key to achieving true and lasting prosperity across the NWT.
However, as they say, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. The foundational review has been completed, and, while the report echoed many of the concerns I have heard, it is more of a proposal than an evaluation. The report essentially has one overarching recommendation, which is to have the government transform the college into a university based in Yellowknife.
Because of time constraints, I will list only a few of the reasons why I reject this recommendation.
The first is simple: we must stand guard against the onslaught of centralization of services in the capital, which come at the expense of other communities. I refuse to allow this Assembly to pull the plug on Fort Smith.
The second is that it is irresponsible to embark down a path of spending an unknown but undoubtedly immense amount of our limited funds on university when we have a graduation rate of 67 per cent in the NWT, which is actually closer to 40 per cent in the communities, and when many of the graduates require upgrading before they can even consider post-secondary.
After high school, there is no shortage of universities to attend, but, before graduation, our students usually only have one choice of school, and those are the schools that we need to invest in if we want to effect lasting change for our residents.
Another reason is that, although Aurora College is an arm's-length institution, attached to that arm is the hand of the GNWT wrapped firmly around the neck of the college. The Department of ECE bears much of the responsibility for the state of the college, and for this Assembly to sign a blank cheque authorizing ECE to go ahead and build a university would be to neglect our core oversight function.
However, Mr. Speaker, with all that being said, I am not opposed to the eventual growth of Aurora College into a polytechnic university, but that isn't something we should rush into based on a consultant's report.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted