Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its report on Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act and commends it to the House.
Introduction
Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act was first introduced by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on June 2nd, 2021, and then referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.
Bill 30 proposes changes to the Aurora College Act (the Act) to:
- Create a new public governance system for Aurora College;
- Move the college to an arm's length relationship with the Government of the Northwest Territories;
- Meet the requirements of a quality assurance review; and,
- Support the gradual transition to a changed way of working between Aurora College, the government, and other partners and stakeholders.
The proposed amendments are part of the broader GNWT initiative to transform Aurora College into a polytechnic university. The process for changing the college into a university began in the 18th Assembly and is scheduled to continue through three governments into the 20th Assembly.
The 19th Legislative Assembly prioritizes the creation of a polytechnic university. In the mandate, the GNWT commits to change Aurora College into an accredited and independent polytechnic university within six years. The GNWT's lead department maintains a website publicly tracking the progress of 106 activities related to the transformation.
Main changes
The main changes made in committee include:
- Increasing the size of the Board of Governors to ten members;
- Requiring that at least half of the board members are Indigenous NWT residents;
- Allowing Cabinet to designate the chairperson of the board of governors, and requiring the board of governors to designate the vice-chair;
- Requiring the board of governors to seek input from Indigenous governments on the makeup of the Indigenous Knowledge Holders Council; and,
- Adding the term "diverse" to sections that refer to the uniqueness of the NWT.
Committee wishes to thank all those who participated. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to pass the reading of this report on to the Member for Great Slave.