In light of Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s findings in her value-for-money audit on Laurentian University, a group of faculty terminated during LU’s insolvency restructuring have a few demands.
After 22 months, Laurentian University finally exited creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA) on Nov. 28.
The Terminated Faculty Committee has three demands addressed to the provincial government and Laurentian’s administration and board.
First, the professors are asking that they be fully reinstated to their former jobs.
“As the Auditor General has painstakingly catalogued, we were terminated wholly unjustly and unnecessarily, and we ask that the new Board and Administration of Laurentian, and the Government of Ontario recognize the injustice done to us, to the programs we provided, and to the students we taught,” said the press release.
Jeff Bangs, the new chair of Laurentian’s board, acknowledged the impact the CCAA process has had on people. “There are a lot of people still hurting. There are a lot of people who lost in a big way in the CCAA process. We can never forget that.”
The Terminated Faculty Committee is asking Bangs to “put his money where his mouth is,” and to reinstate the faculty and staff members whose jobs were lost in this process.
The press release also said terminated employees have yet to see a single cent of their contractually negotiated severance pay, even the much-reduced amount assigned as a result of the CCAA process.
“For those of us who have retired or moved on to other jobs since our termination in April and May of 2021, we ask the Government of Ontario to ensure that all terminated faculty and staff receive the full severance amounts that we are contractually owed,” said the press release.
The auditor general’s report stated the provincial government is partially responsible for the situation that unfolded at Laurentian due to the failure of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to provide sufficient oversight and allowing the Laurentian administration and board to proceed with the CCAA process – something Lysyk determined should not have been used at Laurentian or at any other public academic institution, said the terminated faculty.
Finally, the group is asking that the provincial government establish a public inquiry into the Laurentian University “debacle” and its future in Northern Ontario.
“While the Auditor General’s report has exposed many aspects of Laurentian’s mismanagement, the Administration also participated in gross violations of both human and contractual rights, flagrant disregard for northern communities, students, and educational integrity, violations of commitments to donors, research funders, and business partners, did international-level damage to research and academic reputation, destroying Indigenous and Francophone programs, and broke vital community consultation and obligations in areas of research, cultural, and sports development,” said the press release.
“Those whose voices did not have a chance to be heard in the Laurentian debacle, both at Laurentian and within our communities, deserve a proper public hearing.”
Sudbury.com has reached out to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for their response. We received the emailed statement below, which does not specifically address any of the Terminated Faculty Committee’s demands.
“Since Laurentian University started its restructuring process, our government has been committed to making sure that students get the support they need and helping Laurentian chart a course for success so that it can continue to serve students, parents, faculty, staff and the community,” said the MCU statement.
“As an immediate step, we are implementing a robust reporting and risk framework to identify institutions that may be experiencing financial strain. This new reporting structure is designed to strengthen the ministry’s oversight and ensure proactive reporting before an institution reaches a point of financial distress.”
The subject of possibly reinstating some of the programs cut at Laurentian in 2021 came up at the Dec. 2 LU board of governors meeting.
“In the auditor general's report, she did cite that there were programs that were financially viable that were cut, specifically remember the environmental program and midwifery,” said Shannon Bassett, who is a LU senate representative on the board of governors.
“And so my question is, and also perhaps imploring a fast track, to look at ways of reconstituting those programs. I know in the environmental program, there's a lot of the professors there, they just don't don't have the program.”
Board chair Jeff Bangs said “I hope everyone will appreciate that I or the board can't today say definitively that a certain program will come back or it won't.
“What you have is our commitment to is accelerating the process to examine what is necessary and what our criteria are going to bring back or to reinforce or to to develop new programs for the future. And so we're working on that.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is the associate content editor at Sudbury.com. She also covers education and the arts scene.
