March 4th, 2021
March 4th, 2021
SUDBURY- MPP Jamie West hosted a community event Wednesday night with over 200 people from Sudbury and across northern Ontario calling on Doug Ford and the minister for colleges and universities, Ross Romano, to step up and support Laurentian University during its Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) process.
“It’s unacceptable that Doug Ford and his minister of colleges and universities, Ross Romano, have nothing to say and are taking no action to help a university as important as Laurentian to Sudbury and northern Ontario,” said West. “ I have made repeated attempts to contact minister Romano and we have received no response; except for his office declining an invitation to tonight's town hall on Laurentian.”
Wednesday night’s townhall drew over 200 people on a zoom call and on Facebook live. The audience was made up of local residents, and people across northern Ontario, concerned that the outcome of the CCAA will mean cuts to programming and jobs at Laurentian.
Will Morin, professor of Indigenous studies explained that Laurentian is not just one university. Morin said there is an equal partnership of universities in the Laurentian Federation that goes back to 1960, when Huntington University, the University of Sudbury, Thorneloe University and Laurentian University joined to create an equal educational partnership that is unique to the North. He also explained that Laurentian’s tri-cultural status began at University of Sudbury, which has Canada’s second-oldest indigenous studies program.
Also on the panel was local alumni Rachelle Lacoste who graduated from Laurentian in the social work program and now works in the community in children’s mental health.
“The Franco-Ontarian flag was first displayed at the university. Francophone's fought for French language instruction with Règlement 17. Then, now and in the future, we will fight to preserve that right,” said Lacoste
David Leadbeater, Economics professor at Laurentian said, “The Ontario government’s tuition-dependent, corporate-competitive model for Northern universities has not been working for many years. This is not simply a matter of Northern ‘demography.’ Most students in Northern Ontario come from away.”
The event’s MC and a fourth year political science student at Laurentian, Katlyn Kotila, shared her concerns. “So far we have received no indication from government on how this restructure will effect students and the programming. Students are being told to wait for answers that will have major consequences on our futures. I do not think it is too much to ask them to step up and help our campus,” said Kotila.