by Lexey Burns, Editor-in-Chief
Jamie West, MPP for Sudbury, co-hosted a town hall with fourth-year student Katlyn Kotila calling on the province to provide secure funding for the institution after it filed for creditor protection in February.
“It’s my job to bring your concerns to the provincial government and I have heard nothing louder than the voices of my community,” West said.
“Laurentian University and the affiliated universities are a gem in our city,” he said.
West says that the years of underfunding by the Conservative and Liberal governments have left post-secondary education institutions across Ontario “really struggling.”
“And as a stat, Ontario is so low that in order… for our province to not be last in terms of per student university funding the government would have to increase funding by 35%.”
West says that Ross Romano, the minister of training, colleges, and universities, recently admitted that “he knew [about Laurentian’s financial situation] for at least six months.”
West says that he tried to connect to Romano’s office in the summer of 2020, asking for emergency funding for Laurentian “but instead of help, I was met with silence.”
Romano declined the invitation to join the town hall meeting which lead to the creation of the hashtag #wheresRomano?
Kotila is a Sudburian who came to Laurentian because it was the most financially feasible for her.
“Sudbury is absolutely my home. Not only did I have my support network here to support me through my studies and to help me in my success but also, going to Laurentian University meant that I could afford to get a post-secondary education.”
She said staying in her hometown allowed her to save money and leave “hopefully debt free.”
The town hall involved a panel of Laurentian faculty including Will Morin, David Leadbeater, and Rachelle Lacoste.
Will Morin, a professor at the University of Sudbury (UofS) said, “I’m saying the word Indigenous but what we are not saying Objibwe or Cree or Algonquin… And by that term and that phrase, that exclusion, by not saying the tribes and the territories we’re in, it’s omission,” Morin said.
“What you call Laurentian, is actually the Laurentian campus.” Morin explains that by not emphasizing the federated universities, they are excluding them.
“We want to save Laurentian but we have to first understand the University of Sudbury, Thornloe, and Huntington University are not insolvent.”
David Leadbeter, an associate economics professor with Laurentian said “this is a historic turning point and the way Romano and the provincial government are proceeding with this, are going to make things worse, not better. It’s not a solution,” Leadbeter said.
“I would add that any solution with funding should not include the slashing of programs and jobs.”
“[Ontario] also has the highest tuition fees. Just across the border in Quebec… tuition fees are about half that at Laurentian,” Leadbeter said. “In Newfoundland, they are 40% of what they are at Laurentian.”
Leadbeater says that these high tuition fees are an “enrollment killer.”
“It needs to be said that yes, population is declining in Northern Ontario, but many of the students in Northern Ontario don’t come from Northern Ontario. About half come from away,”
Leadbeater acknowledged the Southern Ontario students who have traveled North to pursue post-secondary education.
“Finally, this is about the future of what kind of university Northern Ontario would want. We are more than certainly about forestry and mining and use of waterways for power generation… we have a culture and a history and alternative forms of development that are needed in the North and we need a university like Laurentian to be able to participate and lead in that.”
Over 500 individuals attended through the zoom meeting and Facebook live.
Representatives from Romano’s office said that the Ministry is remaining focused on ensuring LU students can continue their studies without interruption.
They added that operating grants to Laurentian have been in the range between $73 million-$81 million over the last five years.
“The Ministry provided grants accounted for more than 40% of Laurentian’s total revenue in 2019-20, proportionally far more than other institutions,” the office said.
The ministry is also appointing Alan Harrison, a special advisor, to provide advice and recommendations to the Minister of Colleges and Universities regarding the financial situation at Laurentian.
“The scope of the Special Advisor’s mandate will extend beyond financial analysis, and include an examination of other factors underlying the situation at Laurentian,” the Ministry said.