The unilateral decision by the Aurora College board of directors to close all 19 Community Learning Centres has left some employees in emotional turmoil.
Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo was critical of the move, which came without consultation.
“There are some employees who broke down in tears because of the uncertainty that was bestowed upon them without being consulted prior to this announcement,” he said in the NWT Assembly on Monday.
“Yet again, this decision shows that the smaller communities do not matter in the development of our territories economy. This wrong needs to be made right for the benefit of the smaller communities and its residents.”
Nerysoo said he has been approached by employees concerned over the uncertainty of their immediate futures for themselves, their families and their respective communities.
“These are employees who have given their time and resources to better their communities and their fellow residents,” said Nerysoo.
“Some of these employees have given 20 years of their lives to try and be part of the development of the Northwest Territories, and yet they do not know what the immediate future holds for them and their families.”
Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said the decision was the board’s to make, although she does believe some joint communication between the GNWT and College needs to take place to fully explain the situation.
Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo in the NWT Assembly on Monday. (Photo courtesy of Assembly livestream)
In a release late last month, the College’s board of governors cited low enrolment and completion rates, for the “prohibitively expensive, outdated, and ineffective,” Community Learning Centre program, which started 25 years ago.
Thirty-one indeterminate and term employees may be impacted. There are also several casual positions that will not be renewed and vacant positions that will not be filled.
Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan pressed Minister Cleveland to release a report on the learning centres completed last year that was based on a set of community consultations that assessed how well the centres were working and what could be done better.
“So, can the Minister confirm whether in those consultations, did communities recommend that the Community Learning Centres be shut down?” she asked, “Or did they provide suggestions for more innovative and effective approaches to adult education programming?”
Cleveland said that report, and others done in recent years, “did not identify the closure of Community Learning Centres as part of their recommendations.”
Instead, “they did identify things like flexibility, variety of programming and being responsive to community needs,” along with different projected enrollments, staffing models and financial capacity, she said.
Since the surprise announcement by Aurora College, “there has been interest in everything from filling the space in its entirety or filling parts of the space … (or) using some of the facilities for something different that might speak to some of the needs in communities,” said Cleveland.
“So, this has certainly started a lot of buzz and conversation about what the future of not only adult learning in communities looks like, but also future uses of these facilities, which I think is really interesting, because I think it’s important that we do use this as an opportunity and be creative in what the next chapter looks like.”
Two Yellowknife MLAs appeared to get under the skin of Health Minister Lesa Semmler with repeated calls for transparency over the dissolution in December of the NWT’s Health and Social Services (NTHSSA) Leadership Council, in favour of a single public administrator.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins noted MLAs will be asked to approve Budget 2025-26, without knowing what the public administrator has been doing and, or the details of the NTHSSA’s funding.
“Would the Minister be willing to table NTHSSA’s draft budget publicly before we review the Department of Health so we know what we’re actually approving — not just the dollar amount — and we have trust and faith that new programs are being offered?” he asked.
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart pressed Semmler if she knew what the NTHSSA’s public administrator has been doing and if the minister had been meeting with him.
“The Minister mentioned that … she will come back to the house with the plan from the public administrator to solve the problems we have in healthcare, at least start to solve them,” said Testart.
“When can we expect to see that plan? Can we have a date?”
It was at this point Minister Semmler just threw up her arms in frustration.
She said the NTHSSA is at arm’s length from the GNWT and there is an annual budgeting process that will continue to be followed.
