Thank you, Member. Minister.

Sorry. Was the question whether the programs are going to be reviewed? If the Member could just repeat the question, I just lost him at the end there. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member, will you repeat your question?

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'll try to keep it shorter. As I understand, most of the individuals who were enrolled in the two programs were women. There was some issue of completion. From what we heard from some of the students, the issue was not so much that the programs were not useful or that they were not graduating students, but it was the inability to provide childcare and support for the students so that they could actually complete the programs. Is that going to be a consideration in the review of whether these two programs should be reinstated, that we need to provide better supports for the students and childcare? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. I don't have the details of the review in front of me, but I can let everyone know that there were more than just a couple issues. That's why we undertook the foundational review of the college in the first place and why we are undertaking this effort to transform it into a polytechnic university. Of course, part of that transformation means reviewing programs at a standard that a university needs to. We are using a review that meets any international standards. The program is being reviewed to the standard it should be, and I can find out specifically if those elements are part of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to make a comment on the whole headquarters of the college. I am very happy that Fort Smith will be the education centre for the North, as usual. I am happy also that the Beaufort-Delta will be taking the climate change part. I think that's important because of all of the conditions in the Arctic that are changing. I'm excited about the whole rollout of the polytechnic university.

First of all, before I do this, I want to ensure that all the instructors at all three colleges, especially the Fort Smith campus, the Aurora College there, that we have a wide variety of knowledge people there, who are very engaged in their programs and engaged in what they do, and they contribute to the community. I also want to ensure that -- it was a big strain on the community of Fort Smith when we had all these announcements, "The headquarters has to go here," and "The headquarters has to go there," and the right decision was made.

We have some incredible programs. The teacher education program has been there for many years, and a lot of people who went through the teacher education program advanced to other careers. One of those people I know, and there's quite a few of them. Some of them are working for you now, and some of them have gone on to become MP of the Northwest Territories. There's a lot of potential. Most of them also spoke their own languages. I want to ensure that the teacher education program keeps its -- because they offer the four years, now. One year is kind of off on the side with the Saskatchewan University, but I'd like to see in the future that the whole Bachelor of Education degree will be in place in the community to ensure that, because we always need teachers. We are bringing them in from all over the place, and I think it's time that we start mentoring our own to ensure that they are also capable to teaching at the schools. We do have some who are in Fort Smith, but I'm sure that the communities would prefer their own teachers from their area, speaking the language, and that's extremely important. I just want to see what the Minister has to say on that, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. The transformation team released an areas of specialization document that outlines what the polytechnic will be focused on in the future, and teaching is featured prominently in there. We know that we need teachers. ECE would love to fund a program that provides teachers. We understand that, so pending the outcome of the review, I look forward to a world-class teaching program. However, I will say that we will be reinstating an arm's-length board, truly arm's length, not a puppet board. We have to work with them, so I can't sit here and make commitments for a future board. That being said, I'm very supportive of such a program. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.

Madam Chair, I look forward to an arm's-length board, and I hope that the arm's-length board will be choosing the new president. I look forward to evolving into a polytechnic university, and I am very happy that the headquarters is in Fort Smith. I also want to ask about the ENR program. The ENR program is extremely important to the whole Northwest Territories, a very successful program with a lot of capability. I would also like to see the ENR program go into a full four-year program at the college. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. It's a world-class program. It might be the most well-known, most-respected program we have at the college, and I think that it's going to be a big part of the transformation. I don't run the college. I don't develop programs for the college. There is a bit of an arm's-length function still, but I think that's one of the areas that we're going to see strengthened. As we transform into a polytechnic, we are going to build on the successes, and that's one of the successes. I look forward to seeing what that becomes in the years to come. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to the review, and I'm sure we'll have lots of discussion in the future. I know that there is also a campus in Yellowknife, and I also want to make sure that we also have nurses. It's very important that we stop having locums. I think the whole program of nursing, we have to make sure we capture our people from the North to take these courses, and they transition into all our hospitals and health centres in the North. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

I agree. That's why we're doing this. We don't just deserve a northern polytechnic university; we need one. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister.

No more questions.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I heard the Minister say that we will have an arm's-length board. Do we have an idea of when we will have that? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. I think we're looking at October 2022 at this point. I'd have to check the implementation plan for the exact number. That's all public information, and I encourage all Members to read the documents that we're putting out at a furious pace now. Thank you.