The August 28 campaign visit by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh caused some consternation among the francophone population of Sudbury.
Specifically, for the Coalition nord-ontarienne pour une université de langue française (Northern Ontario Coalition for a French-Language University).
The Coalition wrote to the federal party leader to note how difficult it was to hear that the federal NDP party would support Laurentian as well as the long-pursued French-language University, because in an Aug. 30 release, the Coalition states “the current model of institutional bilingualism simply doesn’t work for the minority.”
At the event, hosted at the University of Sudbury, Singh stated that both the University of Sudbury and Laurentian should be kept as bilingual institutions. (You can read that story here.) When Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made his Aug. 31 stop in Sudbury, also at the University of Sudbury, he promised $80 million per year in funding for all post-secondary institutions that offer a minority-language education. At the time, Nickel Belt Liberal incumbent candidate Marc Serré, who was present at the event along with Sudbury candidate Viviane Lapointe, said “I want a strong Anglophone Laurentian University, and I want a Université de Sudbury, en français.”
The Coalition states they would be pleased to see Laurentian University become strong once again, but not as a bilingual institution.
“It is high time that francophones obtain control of their own institution,” the Aug. 30 release states. “The French-language programming currently offered through Laurentian must therefore be transferred to Université de Sudbury, and quickly. There is no room for ambiguity.”
However, Coalition spokesperson Denis Constantineau said ambiguity is what they received from Singh.
On Sept. 6, the NDP party wrote to the Coalition to more clearly state their approach to francophone post-secondary education.
The message was this; the NDP party wrote they would support an independent French-language university, as well as supporting the francophone and Indigenous programs at Laurentian University.
But the Coalition said this is exactly what they didn’t want, something ambiguous, and in a Sept. 14 release, Coalition spokesperson Denis Constantineau went a step further.
“By supporting the creation of a Université de Sudbury managed by, for and with francophones while shoring up Laurentian University's status as a bilingual and tricultural university, the federal New Democrats are trying to have their cake and eat it too,” states Constantineau.
The University of Sudbury, where Singh spoke Aug. 28, is one of three educational institutions operating on Laurentian’s campus that was, until recently, federated with LU, and provided courses that counted toward Laurentian degrees.
As part of its restructuring, Laurentian terminated the federation agreement with the University of Sudbury along with Thorneloe and Huntington universities in the spring, as it wanted to keep in its own coffers the government and tuition funds transferred to these schools.
The University of Sudbury is currently working with the francophone community to become a French-language university, but hasn’t received the government approval it needs to proceed this fall. It has also given a similar offer to the Indigenous community, hoping to offer a home to what was the second oldest Indigenous Studies program in the country.
Singh said Laurentian, as well as the University of Sudbury, have an important mandate for bilingualism and providing access to higher education in French.
Andréane Chénier, federal NDP candidate (Nickel Belt) said the NDP position is support for what the community needs; that the NDP will base decisions on what “the community” tells them is required.
But also, she feels it isn’t the government's place to decide how education should be shaped, simply how it can be funded.
“We believe that there's such a thing as academic integrity and academic freedoms,” said Chénier. “Universities tell us what they want to teach, and it is our job to then make that happen.”
She said this is the reason for the NDP party stance. Chénier said that she and her party have always supported the transformation of the Université de Sudbury to a standalone university, “Par, pour et avec,” the francophone population of Northern Ontario.
The letter, written in French, states that the NDP party will continue to support Sudbury and Northern Ontario as it rebuilds and will invest in Aboriginal and Francophone education (working with communities to determine how funding should be spent). As well, as stated previously, “Mais nous ne renoncerons pas non plus à la vision de l'Université Laurentienne en tant qu'institution bilingue et triculturelle. En fait, nous croyons que davantage d'universités devraient adopter ce mandat.”
(But also, we will also not abandon the vision of Laurentian University as a bilingual and tricultural institution. In fact, we believe that more universities should adopt this mandate.)
And while Chénier agrees with the support of Laurentian University as well, she does note that it can’t “go back to what it was.”
Again, Chénier said the community should decide what happens with any post-secondary institution. Nadia Verrelli, Sudbury NDP candidate, agrees with her colleague.
In their Sept. 14 statement of response to the NDP letter, the Coalition stated that the real issue lies with the complete loss of confidence in Laurentian University by the Northern Ontario francophone community.
As well, the Tricultural Committee for University Education at Sudbury, made up of leaders from the Francophone, Indigenous and Anglophone communities, said September 9 at their press conference that “the Laurentian Administration and Board has lost its legitimacy to speak or act on behalf of Indigenous education, Franco-Ontarian education, or arts education.”
But Chénier still hopes that if elected, the community engagement is what will drive the choices the NDP party makes.
“So whatever it is that Laurentian University becomes, it becomes that shape by what the community tells us it needs and what it supports,” she said.
“It's not for us to tell them what to teach, it is for us to make it happen once the community engagement happens.”
