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Province replaced majority of Northlands College board of directors

Nov 19, 2018 | 4:00 PM

The former chairperson of Northlands College believes the new board of directors will need a clear vision for northern students to succeed.

“It was a privilege to be on the Northlands College board of directors,” said Deborah Charles of Air Ronge. “I served one term, and I am thankful for the board appointment. Nowhere else on this planet would this college and institute experience exist.”

Her term on the college’s board of directors recently expired along with other local residents such as Jodie Stamp and Doreen Polischuk of La Ronge, as well as Veronica Favel of Cumberland House and Paul Trottier of Denare Beach. New members appointed to the board are Crystal Everest and Hugh Watt of La Ronge, Scott Robertson of Air Ronge, and Val Deschambeault and John Desjarlais from Cumberland House.

Three members were reappointed to the board and they are Myrna Bouvier of Beauval, Jackie Durocher of Buffalo Narrows and Victor Fern of Fond-du-Lac. As vice-chairperson, Charles said Fern is now the acting-chairperson and he’ll stay in the role until he’s told otherwise by the new board or an election is held. One area of particular importance the board will have to examine, she noted, is the future purpose of the mine school with the industry in a lull.

“The mining school we opened up was another great opportunity for northern residents, however, the new board will be eventually looking at that because the mines are closing, so it defeats the purpose of having a mining school,” Charles said, adding it formally opened in 2017. “We had 30 to 40 graduates each year.”

Another area Charles acknowledged as a difficult time period on the board was the transition of the Northern Teacher Education Program (NORTEP) to Northlands College. The institution was responsible for teacher education in the North for 40 years, before the provincial government announced in 2016 it would be coming to an end. Charles noted there were many obstacles to overcome during the transition, adding the program is now running smoothly.

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno