Thorneloe University has filed a motion with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice requesting a court order to stop Laurentian University's attempt to terminate the Federation Agreement between Thorneloe and Laurentian in existence for more than 60 years.
You can read the motion online here.
The motion seeks the court to confirm that the 1962 Federation Agreement, which was intended to permanently federate Thorneloe and Laurentian and have them operate as one university to benefit all students, cannot be unilaterally terminated by Laurentian, despite Laurentian's erroneous comments to the contrary.
On April 1, Laurentian sent Thorneloe a "Notice of its intention to disclaim or resiliate" the Federation Agreement with Thorneloe, effective May 1.
Thorneloe filed an objection to Laurentian's disclaimer with the Court under section 32 of the CCAA, which will engage the court to decide the validity of the disclaimer.
"In the wake of a week of program, course and job losses at Laurentian, Thorneloe's contribution to the students across the university is more urgent than ever,” said Thorneloe president John Gibaut, in a press release.
“Laurentian cannot unilaterally terminate the historic federation agreements that originate from Thorneloe's and Laurentian's inception. This matter is now before the Court, and we expect Laurentian to abide by the valid agreements unless and until the Court orders otherwise. The wider community is watching."
Thorneloe states that terminating the agreement will not provide any material improvement to Laurentian's financial problems, which Thorneloe did not cause, yet would create more chaos for students and more job losses for faculty and staff.
The tuition, grant dollars and other fees generated by Thorneloe largely cover all of Thorneloe's costs, said the press release. Thorneloe has a total workforce of only 28 while Laurentian employs 1,751.
The court filing said the financial advisor retained by Thorneloe after the commencing of the CCAA proceedings has concluded that the disclaimer of the Federation Agreements will cut off Thorneloe from provincial funding, will certainly result in "significant financial hardship" and precipitate Thorneloe's own insolvency filing, while making no material improvement to Laurentian's financial position.
