Jeff Bangs will head up Laurentian University’s board of governors until June 30, 2023.
He was first appointed to Laurentian’s board of governors in December after a shake-up at the board which included 11 members stepping down and another five being appointed by the province, including Bangs.
Among those who stepped down in December was Claude Lacroix, then the chair of Laurentian’s board.
Bangs was elected the board’s “pro tempore chair” in January, leading the board on an interim basis until a new board chair could be selected for a full term, which would start early in the summer.
That new board chair was elected during the April 22 board of governors meeting, and it is Bangs himself.
He will serve as Laurentian’s board of governors chair for a one-year term of July 1, 2022 until June 30, 2023.
The position of Laurentian’s board chair is usually for an initial two-year term, which may be renewed at the completion of that term.
But because Bangs’ appointment as a member of the board ends in 2022, he would be able to serve for a period of one year only, explained a written report on the matter presented at the April 22 meeting.
If his appointment to Laurentian’s board is extended by the province, he may be subsequently appointed for a two-year term, the report added.
After his election, Bangs thanked his fellow board members for their confidence. “We'll continue putting the time in to get the job done,” he said.
The board’s vice-chair, Robert Brouillette, said that as chair, Bangs has “certainly been in the deep end of the pool,” referring to Laurentian’s ongoing insolvency restructuring, and all of the controversies that have surrounded that process.
“I can't commend you enough, personally, myself, and I'm sure I echo the rest of the board, and those involved, and our stakeholders,” Brouillette said. “So thank you for your dedication, your passion and your efforts, for sure.”
Dan Scott, a LU senate representative on Laurentian’s board of governors and a non-voting member of the board, said Bangs was a “breath of fresh air” when it comes to his interactions with the senate, which is Laurentian’s other governing body.
Bangs has appeared before the senate and actually attended just out of interest since he took the reins of the board of governors this winter, he said.
“I think he’s been a very positive change for the university,” Scott said. “Although I have no votes, I am strongly in support of this (electing Bangs as chair).”
Bangs’ election to lead LU’s board comes at a time when Laurentian is looking to finally exit the restructuring process under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA) and has just been the target of a scathing preliminary report by Ontario’s auditor general.
Laurentian’s board also voted at their April 22 meeting in favour of reforms mandated by the province that reduces the number of voting members on LU’s board from 25 to 16.
With these changes looming, there were more resignations and appointments to Laurentian’s board earlier this month.
According to information put out by Laurentian in January, Bangs, who is a partner with Pathway Group and is originally from Mattawa, “specializes in public sector decision making, public policy advocacy, public relations, stakeholder relations, and organizational change.
“With nearly 30 years of experience in government and politics, he has a deep understanding of government and its impact on society,” said the biography.
From December 2020 until his appointment to Laurentian’s Board of Governors in December, 2021, Bangs served as a government relations advisor to Laurentian University through his firm Pathway Group.
A biography of Bangs on Pathway Group’s website said he has served as the principal secretary to the Premier of Ontario, the chief of staff to the minister of Finance and the executive director and campaign manager for the Ontario PC Party.
He has also been chief of staff to ministers at the Ministry of Natural Resources; the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines; the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing; and the Ministry of Education.
It also goes on to say he played an oversight and co-ordinating role in the introduction of Ontario’s Budget 2000 and managed the leadership selection process for the Ontario PC Party in 2002.
Bangs is a public representative on CPA Ontario's Public Accounting Licensing Board and is a regular guest lecturer in the Seneca College post-grad government relations certificate program.
