In the wake of the release of Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s special report on Laurentian University today, the university has released a statement saying it embraces the report’s findings.
In the 117-page full report, Lysyk upheld her preliminary findings that Laurentian University did not have to file for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in response to its financial troubles.
You can read the report online here, as well as our coverage from earlier today here.
Lysyk was tasked with a value-for-money audit of Laurentian University’s finances by the legislature’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts last year.
This was in the wake of Laurentian becoming the first publicly funded university to seek creditor protection under the CCAA when it filed under the federal law on Feb. 1, 2021.
Laurentian now expects to finally exit CCAA proceedings this month after reaching a debt plan - known as a plan of arrangement - with its creditors earlier this fall.
“We respect the Auditor General’s mandate and the work she undertook at the request of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to investigate how Laurentian became insolvent,” said Jeff Bangs, Chair, Laurentian University Board of Governors, in a press release.
“It is now incumbent on us to learn from her advice and, most importantly, accept and implement each of her recommendations. When combined with the external operational and governance reports the University has already obtained – and the commitments made to its stakeholders through the Plan of Arrangement – the University has a strong foundation to make much-needed changes and ensure the mistakes of the past are never repeated.”
Bangs also said LU is “committed to beginning the university’s next chapter on a solid financial footing and ushering in a new era of accountability. The students, staff and faculty of Laurentian deserve nothing less.”
Check back to Sudbury.com in the coming day for a full reaction piece on the Ontario auditor general’s report.
