Update as of April 14 2021:
WLUFA is appalled by the recent devastating cuts initiated by Laurentian University’s administration, which include the laying off of 80 to 100 professors and the elimination of 58 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs.
This is in addition to the earlier announcement from Laurentian that it was unilaterally severing its federation agreements with three institutions, Université de Sudbury, Huntington University, and Thornloe University.
Many of the programs cut were Francophone. In addition, the cuts come to many important and specialized programs, which include Labour Studies, Midwifery, Women and Gender Studies, Environmental Science and many others (click here for a full list).
The Ontario government’s continued inaction with regard to the province’s only university with a bilingual and tri-cultural mandate is inexcusable. There has been no effort on part of the provincial government to develop a funding strategy that reverses the chronic underfunding of not only the entire Post Secondary Education sector, but also specifically Laurentian University.
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) has called for the Ontario Government to step in and fund Laurentian University, as well as for the resignation of Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano amid the ongoing crisis, a crisis which precipitated directly due to an unprecedented disengagement and lack of accountability from Romano and the Ontario government.
WLUFA echoes the call from OCUFA. The entire Post Secondary Education system in Ontario is on the brink due to lack of support from the Government, and it is time for accountability, transparency, and collaboration with Ontarians as a whole, the entire Post Secondary Education sector, and most urgently the Laurentian community.
What is happening?
In the strongest possible terms, WLUFA condemns the ongoing inaction of the provincial government in its failure to intervene to stop the commercial bankruptcy process (the Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act – CCAA) initiated by Laurentian University’s administration. WLUFA stands in solidarity with our colleagues at the Laurentian University Faculty Association / Association des professeures et professeurs de l’Université Laurentienne (LUFA/APPUL), with staff at Laurentian University, with the students of Laurentian University, and with the Laurentian community.
Faculty and Librarians across the province are mobilizing to support the efforts by Faculty, Staff and Students to challenge these efforts.
We call upon the provincial government to:
- Intervene in preventing the commercial bankruptcy process,
- Provide immediate and long-term funding for Laurentian to end its current insolvency filing and secure its future
Read WLUFA’s full statement here:
For further reading, or to get involved in supporting the campaign:
Other actions you can take:
Read OCUFA’s updates on the ongoing process at Laurentian University
Follow Save Our Sudbury/Sauvons Sudbury on Facebook and Twitter