(Ottawa – April 12, 2021) Today’s lay-offs could have been avoided and will undermine Laurentian University’s chances of recovery, charges the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). At least 80 members of Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) are said to have received termination notices today.

“These job cuts stem from the closed-door mediation process among creditors triggered after Laurentian was granted insolvency protection. Staff, students and the community of Sudbury are paying the price for poor administration and government inaction,” says CAUT President Brenda Austin-Smith.

Austin-Smith notes that the Laurentian administration did not have to take the University down such a path and could have used processes in the collective agreement between LUFA and the University for dealing with financial emergencies, which would have allowed the parties to move forward sustainably, in a way that would have protected the academic integrity of the institution.

 The details of the mediation agreement at Laurentian University remain confidential and will not be publicly known until later this month but staffing cuts will lead to a wide range of program cuts, the cancellation of cutting-edge research, and leave thousands of students scrambling.

“How can Laurentian expect to attract new students and fulfill its tricultural and bilingual mandate?” Austin-Smith asks. “The federal and provincial governments must work together and save Laurentian University now.”

Media contact: Lisa Keller, CAUT communications officer 613-222-3530 or keller@caut.ca