The provincial government made its financial support of Laurentian University contingent upon the impending departure of the insolvent university’s president, Robert Haché.
That bit of information is included in a draft of Laurentian’s 2021-22 financial statements, which are set to be voted on by the university’s board of governors Oct. 21.
The province’s support of Laurentian was also contingent upon the renewal of its board of governors, although that fact has been publicly known since last winter.
The board of governors has since seen a large turnover, which has included the resignation of former chair Claude Lacroix last December.
In July, the university announced the impending retirements of both Haché and provost Marie-Josée Berger as part of its plan of arrangement, which includes as one of its conditions the renewal of senior management (see page 38 of this document).
However, the plan of arrangement does not explicitly mention the province in relation to the renewal of senior management.
Haché and Berger are to retire prior to Laurentian’s emergence from insolvency restructuring under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA), which is expected to happen next month after 22 months of creditor protection.
The university said this summer an interim president and provost will be appointed, and the formal search process to identify a permanent president, in consultation with the Laurentian community, would be commenced.
The draft financial statements released this week spoke about how the $35-million debtor-in-possession (DIP) bridge loan taken out by Laurentian during its insolvency was refinanced by the province this past winter.
The loan agreement included a term stating that it is “the intention of the parties for the DIP Facility to be converted to a long-term loan on the implementation of a CCAA Plan, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed by the University and the Province prior to that time.”
The government also committed to providing COVID-19 grant funding of up to $6,000 and providing enrolment corridor and performance protection up to $22,000 over a number of years, on terms to be agreed.
“The government support was subject to certain conditions, which included renewal of the board of governors and the position of the president, and a commitment to complete a long-term strategic plan for the university,” the financial documents state.
“The first phase of board renewal commenced on December 16, 2021 and the process to identify a consultant to help lead the University through the development of a strategic plan is in progress.
“As of the date of these consolidated financial statements, the funding commitment from the Province and the steps leading to the new strategic plan have not been finalized.”
The topic of when exactly Laurentian will announce its new interim president and provost actually came up at the Oct. 18 meeting of the university’s senate.
“I think there's a lot of concern with a lot of stakeholders, that how are we emerging, and how do we have a bright future if we don't know who our next leaders are?” said senate member Anthony Church.
“Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure if it's to the board of governors members present who this would be best directed towards. But when can we be assured that we will have leaders that we need to be able to move forward? And is there an announcement coming on who those might be and when they will be put in place?”
Senate vice-chair Ashley Thomson, who was sitting in the chair’s position for the Oct. 18 meeting, said the question would best be directed to Laura Kurkimaki, the board of governors’ representative to LU’s senate.
Unfortunately, she had left the meeting by the time Church posed his question. “Well, in that case, Senator Church, we can't get that question answered,” Thomson said, adding that perhaps it could be answered at the November meeting.
Several senate members voiced their frustration that no one from the board of governors was in attendance at that juncture of the meeting to answer the question.
With the meeting having already lasted until the early evening, LU registrar Serge Demers pointed out that his calendar says senate meetings are to last from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. (although this is actually seldom the case), so perhaps it was a scheduling issue.
Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU) president Tom Fenske asked if it would be possible to send a message to the board of governors on this issue.
“We don't have to wait a month, maybe,” he said. “The university community is anxiously waiting to hear about who our new interim leaders will be.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
