Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I'm joined by my colleague Linda St‑Pierre, and we represent the Laurentian University Faculty Association, or LUFA.
Laurentian University is located in Sudbury, Ontario. The LUFA union represents over 500 academic staff. Tomorrow marks exactly three years since one dark Monday in April 2021, when nearly 200 people lost their jobs and 69 programs were cut, including nearly 30 French‑language programs. In February 2021, Laurentian University became the first publicly funded university to file for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. The impact on students, workers and the community has been profound and devastating. Among other things, the cuts affected the indigenous studies program as well as the only bilingual midwifery program in the country. The disruption was felt throughout northern Ontario, which obviously relies heavily on the university. Francophone and indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected.
The Auditor General of Ontario found that this use of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act was unnecessary, inappropriate, costly and destructive. This recourse was strategically planned by the administration, on the advice of an outside law firm, in order to circumvent the provisions of the collective agreement reached with the teachers' union. As a result, a piece of federal legislation was used to circumvent obligations under labour relations legislation.
If any job loss is devastating, recourse to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act has resulted in our members losing the additional protections and benefits to which they were entitled. The university used the courts to its advantage to protect itself, at the expense of students, workers and public education. One of our colleagues lost her job when she was nine months pregnant. Even worse, she was not entitled to maternity leave and the related benefits that her family was depending on. Many others have not only lost their jobs, but also their severance pay and group health insurance. Our students found themselves unable to complete their studies and their post‑graduate research projects. In addition, their future prospects have been turned upside down.