The Portage College Board of Governors met yesterday, June 8, with two motions in regards to the Voyageurs Hockey Team.

On May 11, the Board was approached by Mayor Omer Moghrabi of Lac La Biche with a request for the Board to review the process of the initial decision made by Portage College Administration to move the team to Cold Lake.

On May 25, the Board of Governors held a special meeting to review the process undertaken by administration in their decision to move Voyageurs hockey team to Cold Lake. The purpose was to review documents and hear from the stakeholders on what they understood the process to be. Portage College administration and the two Councils (Lac La Biche County and City of Cold Lake) gave their time lines, and their explanations of what they understood to be the sequence of events.  The understandings of the sequence of events was very similar from all parties.

While negotiations with the LLB Council were somewhat strained and contained some miscommunications, there was nothing to indicate that the overall transaction of moving the team itself was not operational in nature and in the best interest of the college.  Therefore, the decision was referred back to the President & CEO, Dr. Trent Keough, who will consult with his Executive, Manager of Athletics & Recreation and Manager of Community Relations for a final decision on or before June 13, 2017 and inform the Board of Governors.

The Board passed a second motion which will require Administration to keep the Board of Governors apprised of any business decision which has a broad community impact such as closing a campus or moving a program.

Board members are appointed through an order in council for each public college.  The process for appointments is managed by the Minister of Advanced Education Office.

The Board of Governors recognize both communities' frustrations and would like to thank the City of Cold Lake and the Lac La Biche County for their input and patience.