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Sudbury Union Leaders Call for Immediate Action to Address Laurentian Crisis
[April 15, 2021]

Sudbury Union Leaders Call for Immediate Action to Address Laurentian Crisis


An immediate investment of emergency funds, a federal-provincial commitment to Laurentian University's tri-cultural mandate, legislative reforms and the eventual elimination of tuition fees are among measures needed to address the crisis at Laurentian and throughout the post-secondary education sector, Sudbury labour leaders say.

At a news conference today, leaders of unions representing thousands of Sudbury workers came together to protest the devastating program and job cuts at Laurentian and to support growing calls for meaningful action by the Ontario and federal governments.

"The irresponsible and wasteful actions of the Ford (News - Alert) government in failing to provide public funding for Laurentian and other Ontario universities in the midst of a pandemic, have fundamentally undermined post-secondary education in Ontario - at just the moment that advanced education and research are most needed," said Mike Bellerose, President of the Sudbury and District Labour Council.

Laurentian, which filed for creditor protection in February, announced this week it has cut 58 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs, while laying off 110 faculty and 41 staff as part of its court-supervised restrcturing under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.



"This unprecedented and unnecessary restructuring of Laurentian University is putting its future at risk and ruining the university's reputation with students, families, local businesses and entire communities," said Bellerose.

"The impact of these historic cuts at Laurentian University will have profound economic effects in Sudbury and Northeastern Ontario. The estimated economic impact is more than $100 million, to say nothing of the millions in unpaid funds owed to local businesses and contractors," Bellerose added.


"Tens of millions of dollars will be wasted on lawyer and financial fees. And tens of millions of public dollars in research funds, francophone and Indigenous program funds and university donations appear to have been lost," he said.

"Laurentian is not alone in this crisis," Bellerose noted. "The broken funding model for post-secondary education, particularly in Ontario, but also across Canada, has placed many other universities on a 'watch list' with mounting debt and financial pressures, due to declining public investment."

Immediate and longer-term solutions to the Laurentian and post-secondary education crises should include:

  • Emergency stabilization funds for post-secondary institutions to address the rising costs and revenue losses associated with the Covid-19 pandemic;
  • A federal government commitment to uphold francophone and Indigenous programs at Laurentian and to make whole all lost Tri-council research dollars;
  • A new federal Post-Secondary Education Act that provides post-secondary education for all Canadians as a public good - like health care - with the eventual elimination of tuition fees for students attending university, college and apprenticeship programs;
  • CCAA reform that immediately removes public-sector institutions from the federal legislation.


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