Jim Gordon, former Sudbury mayor, MPP and cabinet minister, is petitioning the province to have Laurentian University transfer its French-Language programming to the University of Sudbury.
On Nov. 15, it was presented to the Ontario Legislature and fully supported by Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas.
After Laurentian University filed for insolvency in February, it severed the federation agreement and left University of Sudbury, which offered the majority of Francophone programming, without funding or degree-granting status.
President Serge Miville and the University of Sudbury’s board of governors hope to change that, and have already made the university a secular one in order to receive public funding to rebuild the school.
Gordon feels that the French-speaking community will be underserved by Laurentian, and with a large population of Francophones in northeastern Ontario, the need for a standalone university created and operated by Francophones is clear.
Gordon told Sudbury.com he remembers the birth of Laurentian University, and that’s why the sudden announcement of its failings hurt him, and the community so greatly. He was a young man, living with his wife and two daughters, and he remembers the “dream” that was Laurentian, even taking a course from the school in its beginnings.
“It flowered, it really flowered,” said Gordon. “But then all of a sudden, out of the blue, we get this announcement that there is bankruptcy involved, that people will be laid off, and no one, outside of the university, knew it was coming.”
He references a nursery rhyme regarding the lack of transparency, and waiting until the problems had already occurred before announcing an issue: “The community was never given the opportunity to try and put Laurentian together again.”
He said it was a blow to everyone, but especially those who dreamed of an education in French. He noted the Anglophone community should also be supporting the dream of a standalone French-language university, because the idea of an institution with a tri-cultural mandate, emphasizing English, French and Indigenous programming, is no longer an option.
“We all should be supporting what our fellow citizens are trying to do,” said Gordon. “Because the present university (Laurentian), while it has that mandate, has broken the trust that mandate says you have to have.”
He feels excuses have been made, and only that, but one more than the others raises his ire. “The excuse of using other people's money to operate, then throwing your hands up, and not even talking to the rest of the community does not create any kind of confidence from the people of Sudbury.”
He feels the need to support the Francophone community, even as an Anglophone, because it is important for the community. He also adds that in his history with Sudbury, he knows that the Francophone people, and especially Franco-Ontarians, have long struggled for language rights, and succeeded.
“I'm speaking as an individual who knows the history of the Northeast,” said Gordon. “I've been involved in all kinds of projects, and many of them successful, because when people gather together in the Northeast and in Sudbury, they make things happen. And if they have leaders that can close the deal for them, things happen.”
You can read the petition, as read by Gélinas, below.
“Whereas Laurentian University has announced, on April 12, 2021, a debt restructuring exercise comprised of the abolition of 69 programs (28 of which in French), the dismantling of the Laurentian federation, and the firing of more than 100 faculty members; and that these actions will have devastating local, economic and human repercussions on the francophone community of northern Ontario;
“Whereas the Franco-Ontarian community has demanded French-language post-secondary institutions since the 1960s, and that the demonstrations held on December 1, 2018, have shown this community’s commitment and desire to have post-secondary institutions managed by, for, and with the francophone community;
“Whereas on March 12, 2021, the University of Sudbury and the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario announced their intention to transform the University of Sudbury into a French-language secular university;
They “petition the Legislative Assembly” as follows:
“Ensure forthwith the repatriation of all programs and courses offered in French and the transfer of all material, physical and human resources ... associated with the delivery of French-language services and francophone programs at Laurentian University, available and offered as of April 9, 2021, to the University of Sudbury;
“Impose a one-year renewable moratorium to all francophone programs offered at Laurentian University...;
“Establish an implementation commission tasked to ensure the transfer of said French-language programs to the University of Sudbury and to support this institution’s development, in order to ensure the sustainability of French-language post-secondary education in northern Ontario and to prioritize current and future francophone students’ needs;” and finally;
“Ensure, by all means possible, that current students enrolled in French-language programs impacted by the Laurentian University’s restructuring exercise be able to obtain their degree in the program that they were enrolled in as of April 9, 2021, without having to take extra courses or pay extra costs to those set out initially.”
