Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university has been identified as a priority of this Assembly, and we are in the midst of that process. That process calls for the board to be re-established at a point in the near future, a couple of years from now; 2022, right now, is the plan. Before that is going to happen, we'd like to make some changes to the Aurora College Act because, you know, the act isn't quite as arm's-length as one would think. It states that the Minister may give direction to the board respecting the exercise of its powers and performance of its duties; the Minister shall determine the policy respecting the operations, programs, and practices of the college; the Minister may remove board members at any point during their term; board members need approval on many things to create policies.

We have an act, but it does not create a board that is free and clear of government interference. In fact, the power essentially lies with the Minister; the act makes that pretty clear. I want to make some changes to that act so that we do have an act that requires an independent board because, if we want to become a university, we have to meet national standards, and right now, we're not there. Over the coming years, we're making the decisions that are going to put us in that position so that we can reinstate a board, and that board is going to take control and carry us the rest of the way to the creation of a polytechnic university.

I will just apologize right up front, Mr. Speaker. When I was a Regular Member, before I was the Minister, I was frustrated by not knowing what was going on with the college. Nothing was clear to me, what was happening. I felt that one day, ECE was going to say, "Now, we have a university." That's not what is happening. You know, there is a lot that's been going on, but we haven't been getting that information out there, so I've told the department, I've told the college, "We need to expedite that. We need to get information out there so that people can see."

There is a plan. There has been work going on, and there are things to be excited about, and so I've expedited that. Tomorrow, I hope to make a Minister's statement -- I've basically just committed myself to making a Minister's statement tomorrow on this -- to get some of that information out there, because the public deserves to know what we're up to and they deserve to be as excited as I am about this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.