Debates of April 14th, 2021

Laurentian University in Sudbury

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Unfortunately, I have to allow for other questions.

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, I love that. I wish we had more time to have this conversation.

The answer is yes. When I was in ministries in previous Parliaments, one thing that I got really excited about was the ability to bring, for example, augmented reality or virtual reality training trailers for trades to northern Manitoba communities. Yes, we should be looking at every way possible to allow people to get education as close to home as they can. We need to be cognizant of community needs and intersectional needs.

I wish I had more time to speak about the very valid point that was brought up with regard to needing supports to integrate international students and new Canadians into rural remote communities, but perhaps I can do so another day in another emergency debate.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech.

I find it very interesting that she wants to broaden the discussion on university education.

I have a question for her, since she worked in university administration for about 10 years, if I understood correctly.

What does she think could have happened to make Laurentian University file for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, unfortunately I have not read Laurentian University's audited financial statements from the past several years, but I will say this. I think many universities across Canada are going through a fundamental shift in their “business models”. They are asking themselves questions: Are we providing research? Are we providing teaching, and to what level? How are we providing online learning?

Institutions that provide these services and that are not necessarily in urban centres are at risk for a wide variety of reasons, and I think we have to have this conversation in the context of a broader macro-level look at the post-secondary education vision in Canada. We should not be tied to one business model. We should be tied to outcomes for learners and to workforce development.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member talked about her previous professional experience in university administration. I wonder what her thoughts are on the state of Canadian research university entrepreneurial initiatives. How are we faring compared with other world-class universities?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, again, that is a question for a broader conversation about the retention of intellectual property in Canada. It ties into our trade agreements and macroeconomic conditions around taxation, labour, etc.

Research-intensive universities are important for the provision of basic research, but we also have to figure out how we retain intellectual property in Canada. That cannot happen without other broader macroeconomic conditions being in place. Frankly, I do not think we are in good shape on that right now.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am sorry that I do not speak French very well. I did not study French in school. I am very pleased that my children were able to study French. I will fight so that all children in Alberta and all Canadians have that opportunity.

I want to thank my colleagues, the members of Parliament for Timmins—James Bay and London—Fanshawe, for raising this vital issue and ensuring that all parliamentarians have a chance to debate this, and I want to urge the government to finally take action to protect la Francophonie in Quebec and across Canada.

This particular debate is looking at the devastating potential loss of Laurentian University. I am deeply saddened by what is happening in this institution. Laurentian University is the only educational institution in northern Ontario with a robust, tri-cultural mandate, serving francophone, indigenous and anglophone communities.

Laurentian has been a key hub of instruction and culture for Franco-Ontarians, offering more than 150 courses in French, in addition to being one of the largest indigenous education providers and a vital provider of unique programs, such as midwifery training.

It is terrible that it has come to this. It is unbelievable, really, that the Liberals have been silent and have failed to protect and defend one of northern Ontario's biggest universities: an institution that is key and central to northern Ontario's largest city of Sudbury.

I cannot believe that it took my colleagues within the NDP to raise this issue and call for an emergency debate. I am thankful for the strong leadership of the MP for Timmins—James Bay and the MP from Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, who are fighting for northern Ontarians.

I have heard from many people who are deeply concerned about what is happening in Laurentian University. I am going to share something that I heard from one of the alumni. Michel Laforge is a resident of Sudbury, Ontario, and twice a graduate of Laurentian University. I am going to quote him:

This year, Laurentian sent face masks to alumni. I wear it, logo facing in, black side out, in solidarity with the Laurentian community's loss of jobs, colleagues, knowledge and research. I protest on behalf of everyone who depends or who has depended on this university. The “Laurentian 2.0” being discussed in restructuring plans behind closed doors will be a shell of its former self. My real alma mater closed its doors today. This is a slap in the face to people like me who strive to make northern Ontario a better place to live.

While I am deeply concerned about what is happening with Laurentian University, I want to raise the alarm about what is happening in Sudbury. The loss of infrastructure and the loss of institutions that support Franco-Canadians outside of Quebec is not just occurring in Ontario. It is occurring in my province, it is occurring in my city and it is occurring in my riding.

The federal government must do more to stop this insidious attack on the French language, on our francophone citizens and on our cherished bilingual country. As an anglophone member of Parliament from Alberta, joining the House this evening from Treaty 6 Territory, I want to raise my voice during this important debate, because I am proud to represent the strong, determined Franco-Albertans in communities across Alberta.

Madam Speaker, I know you know, but one such francophone community is my constituency of Edmonton Strathcona. We are very lucky to have an incredibly dynamic francophone community with strong institutions like La Cité francophone, incredible public service organizations like la FRAP and the Alliance Jeunesse-Famille de l’Alberta Society, and great festivals like FrancoMusik and the Canoë Volant. For those who do not know, who have not had the great privilege, this is a spectacularly beautiful festival, where my brothers and I came third in the downhill canoe races that were held last year before the pandemic.

There is another institution that makes Edmonton Strathcona, and indeed Alberta, great. It is one we have heard a great deal about this evening, and that is Campus Saint-Jean. Campus Saint-Jean is the only French-language university west of Winnipeg, and it serves francophone and bilingual students from Alberta and across western Canada with a wide range of undergraduate, after degree and graduate programs. It is a hub in my community. It encourages immigration, which in turn makes Edmonton Strathcona more vibrant and more diverse.

Campus Saint-Jean is critical to the vitality of the French language in Alberta and in western Canada. Its education programs train future teachers for Alberta and other provinces' primary and secondary French and French immersion programs. Without Campus Saint-Jean, Alberta would not have the qualified teachers it needs to serve its francophone program. In fact, so many Albertans want their children to access French and French immersion school, that there are long wait lists to enrol. Already, we cannot keep up with the demand, and we cannot meet our obligations to provide French school opportunity.

Today, we are at real risk of losing Campus Saint-Jean. In violation of the contracts that were signed between the faculty of Saint-Jean, the University of Alberta and the governments of Alberta, the promised adequate funding to operate, maintain, expand and enhance the school, the UCP government, the Conservative government in Alberta and the cuts to post-secondary education are threatening the very existence of Campus Saint-Jean, its very survival.

Just like in Ontario, Jason Kenney and his government is failing to live up to its obligations, and this has profound implications for the future of French-language instruction and vitality in Alberta, so it must be addressed by the federal government. The federal government must step in at this point. We need systematic change that acknowledges the need for post-secondary education, not just to grade 12, over long term and right now there is an enhanced for immediate support that does not rely on provincial governments to match.

Current federal funding is not sufficient to meet the intent of the Official Languages Act. Article 23 of the charter cannot be fulfilled without support for post-secondary institutions to train French-language teachers and to guarantee that Alberta's francophone parents have the right to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in French. The Supreme Court ruling affirmed this right and more. It found that minority language communities must receive equivalent support to the majority language, not proportional support as was argued in British Columbia.

The implications for Alberta are very, very clear. Unless Campus Saint-Jean is supported, Alberta's school boards will not be able to meet the equivalency standards. The federal Liberal government needs to step up to support French-language post-secondary education and to ensure that francophones across Canada have their minority languages protected.

I urge the minister to stop hiding behind jurisdiction and stop waiting for the provinces that we know are not going to act and we know are not going to come to the table. We know that we cannot rely on them to protect our official languages, so I will quote to the minister from the minister's own mandate letter, which reads:

...make new investments to help train, recruit and attract teachers in both immersion and second official language programs [and]...develop and promote new opportunities for language and cultural exchanges and invest in building infrastructure that supports Official Language minority communities, including schools and cultural centres.

We need a federal government willing to stand up for public higher education in northern Ontario, in Edmonton Strathcona and across Canada. We have had enough empty words. We within the NDP are looking for action.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, I do not know whether my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona is aware of the relationship between Campus Saint-Jean and the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière. They have an agreement dating back a number of years that enables anglophone and francophile students from Campus Saint-Jean to come learn and improve their French in La Pocatière. We have that in common.

For me, it is important that all Canadian universities, particularly those in minority communities, have adequate funding. When the member said that it is important that the federal government invest more money, has she or the NDP ever assessed how much should be reinvested in Canada's university faculty?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the things we heard from the minister earlier today was that there was money on the table waiting to go to the institutions, but the hold-up was that the provincial government was not accessing it and was not providing the match. If we are working with a provincial government that is not willing to meet its own contractual obligations, then the federal government needs to, at the very least, be prepared to move forward to protect the official language and minority communities, without the match. Even just that is a big piece of it.

I also like what many of my colleagues have said before, including my colleague from London—Fanshawe, about having a post-secondary act and being able to tie funding that goes to provinces to post-secondary and ensuring it goes to the right spot. That is another excellent way to ensure that.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have kind of a tough question for so late an hour. I imagine those of us who are still here are here because French really matters to us.

There is one aspect we have not talked about tonight, which is promoting francophone universities and francophone knowledge internationally. Our universities could be a unifying force within the Francophonie, and Canadian universities outside Quebec could be part of that movement. Does my colleague agree that funding research in French and promoting it internationally could be viable approaches for enhancing the value of francophone university culture in Canada?

Quebec is prepared to invest in promoting French-language research and science internationally. If Canada recognized the benefit of doing so, would that motivate the federal government and the Canadian provinces to get serious about supporting francophone universities? Does my colleague recognize the prestige—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to give the member time to respond.

The hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the really wonderful things about Campus Saint-Jean and other francophone universities across the country is how they encourage immigration, how they encourage francophone immigration, which we know needs to be increased and promoted and supported in Canada.

I agree with the member that to have research be done in French and to have our French universities be part of an international collection of people doing that research and work can only strengthen the relationships that our French universities have with other French universities and increase the participation of members of the Francophonie from around the world.

Like I said in my speech, one of the things I most love about Campus Saint-Jean is how it increased immigration in Edmonton Strathcona and made our community so diverse and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Sorry, I do want to allow for a very brief question.

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, I very much enjoyed the speech by my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona. I would like to give her the opportunity to expand on her remarks.

How can Campus Saint-Jean contribute to francophone immigration in her province? How should the federal government support this francophone immigration, despite Jason Kenney?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague who is such a voice in Quebec for the francophones. I know he is so supportive of the francophonie across the country.

We need to do a better job. We know that French immigration needs to increase, that we need to commit resources and we need to have a better plan with regard to immigration to encourage the francophonie to come to Canada to settle in Quebec but outside of Quebec as well. The best way to do that is to ensure we have communities that are supporting the francophonie, francophone culture and francophone language. Campus Saint-Jean is the heart of that community in Edmonton Strathcona.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, today I join my NDP colleagues in calling for an immediate federal government intervention with regard to the devastating situation faced by students, faculty and staff at Laurentian University.

First, I want to state that I, along with my NDP colleagues, stand in solidarity with the students, faculty and staff at Laurentian. This is devastating for Sudbury, for the north, for indigenous communities, for francophones living outside Quebec, particularly in Ontario, for women and for Canada as a whole. This is the time for federal leadership. This is the time for federal leadership for the north.

I am joining from my home in Thompson on Treaty 5 territory, the territory of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. Thompson is a sister city to Sudbury. The same mining company, Inco, has operated and been the economic backbone of our cities. I, like many people who grew up here in Thompson, have many friends from Sudbury. Many people go back and forth between our communities. Our stories are intertwined in many ways.

Our communities, like many across the north, have experienced a brutal hollowing out in recent years. Foreign ownership, like the takeover by Vale of Inco, has only meant the loss of good Canadian jobs across the board. It has meant that decisions that deeply affect our communities are no longer made in our country when it comes to our jobs and our future.

The devastation of Laurentian University adds to this. It robs opportunity from northern young people, from indigenous people, from Franco-Ontarians and from working-class young people, whose ability to access a post-secondary education can make all the difference. The north, particularly indigenous communities, has a history of being exploited for the resources and the people for their labour. The loss of a university and access to post-secondary education in our region turns the clock back on everyone.

We as northerners should have the opportunity to be educated in the north. We know that people who are able to access a post-secondary education in the north tend to stay in our communities and regions. As a former instructor for the University College of the North here in northern Manitoba, I know this reality well. I stand in solidarity with students, faculty and staff fighting back.

I also want to share some quotes from friends from Sudbury, advocates in this time of need.

Julie Lalonde wrote, “I don't live in Northern Ontario because youth migration is REAL. I'm one of thousands of young people who grew up in the North but were forced to leave to find work. Laurentian U imploding is horrific for the economy in a way that southern Ontario folks just don't get.”

Caelie Frampton said, “I was taught by amazing queer professors who changed my life. The classroom opened up my world. What's happening at LU should have never been allowed to happen. I'm sad for generations of Indigenous, francophone and all kids from a working class mining town who won't get to go.”

Maggie Frampton wrote, “Laurentian's francophone, indigenous and English programs are integral to the arts community of Sudbury, of northern Ontario and beyond. Many have come to study in Sudbury and discover we have something special. The long-standing institutions created at Laurentian University continue to ingrain our landscape. My question now is, what will happen to the next generation? Who will continue what was started here?”

The bottom line is that we need a federal government that believes in northern Canada, not in terms of slogans but in terms of action, in terms of investment. Northern Canada has one of the youngest populations in the country. There is immense opportunity, but with the shuttering of post-secondary opportunities, we close the door on our future. If we push the north backwards, inequality between our regions grows, and with it, Canada goes backwards too.

We need leadership for Franco-Ontarians, for French-language education, for the rights of francophone people. The future of Canada is at stake.

Post-secondary education in French outside Quebec is already under threat. My colleague from Edmonton Strathcona talked about cuts to Campus Saint-Jean. Major institutions within our education system are struggling to survive. We need federal leadership to support post-secondary education in French.

I would like to share with my colleagues the words of Monique Beaudoin. She said she mourned the loss of these incredible people who greatly contributed to the development of our community and our region, the arts, literature, the economy, the environment and the future. She mourned the collapse of a tri-cultural vision, as symbolic as it was. In terms of management, the people working there were fully devoted. To them it was not just about money, it was hard work over several decades. This was taken from them, just as their land and heritage were taken from them and put in museums. This vision, as fragile as it is, gave her hope that reconciliation on N'Swakamok land may finally be possible.

The survival of Laurentian University is essential to the protection of francophone rights in northern Ontario. The survival of French programs, in both midwifery and nursing programs, is essential to the protection of a woman's right to receive medical care in her language. The survival of Laurentian University is essential to the future of the francophonie and the future of bilingualism in the country.

This is the time for federal leadership on post-secondary education. We must be clear: Post-secondary education should not and cannot be a commodity; it is a right. Post-secondary institutions should not be run like corporations, and I want to add my voice to those of my colleagues opposing the Laurentian University administration's application for creditor protection under the CCAA. This problem, this crisis, requires all levels of government to step in right now for the good of students, faculty and the future of an institution that is at the heart of a community, of a region and of our country.

There has been immense concern shared about the future of the indigenous studies program. Will Morin, an indigenous professor at Laurentian, has fought against the possible termination of the indigenous studies program. If it were to go, it would represent a significant turning away from Laurentian University's tricultural mandate and its commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action on indigenous education. It would also have an immense impact on indigenous communities in Canada, and it would represent the first indigenous studies program to be shuttered since the discipline began in 1969.

As students have pointed out, “I think that's what we've learned, realizing our professors aren't just our professors in the academic sense, but our teachers, our elders, and our knowledge holders. That it isn't just losing a professor. It's like losing an auntie, a grandfather or grandmother.”

As my colleagues in the NDP have said clearly, this requires a long-term sustained commitment to post-secondary education that is not premised on making a profit. Instead, it should be a post-secondary education that is seen as vital to our personal development and to the betterment of our communities and society.

We have a lot to learn from the COVID crisis. One of the biggest lessons, I would argue, is that the neo-liberal status quo must go. The constant push for profit, including from our post-secondary institutions, has led us to a point like this. The emphasis on the individual over community has also led us to a point like this. The exploitation and marginalization of working people, indigenous communities and women, and so many others, render us all worse off.

The fight for Laurentian is more than a fight for an institution. It is a fight for the future of our country. A brighter future must come out of this crisis. Let us be on the right side of history and find a way to support the students, faculty and staff at Laurentian.

In closing, I will share a few words by Miriam Cusson, a professor of theatre, one of the programs that has been cut at Laurentian University. This is just a small snippet of her poem Cher Robert:

A brutal attack
Against midwives
First nations
Franco-Ontarians
Students and immigrant students from francophone countries
They tried to silence us
To cut out our tongues
They forget that we will remember.

This will be yours to discover

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, I have a question about funding for universities, which of course is a big challenge for all universities. I know that Laurentian University is not really a research-focused university, so the question is more general.

Does the member see a role for universities to partner with responsible Canadian-controlled corporations, to be more entrepreneurial and to raise money in that way to reduce tuition fees for students?

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, I think the research work at universities should be publicly funded. I am a huge supporter of it. For years, I have fought for public funding of our research councils and research institutions. The problem is that we have relied on corporate models that have led us to where we are.

To bring the focus back to Laurentian, what is clear is that a number of problems have existed for some time now, but it should not be students, faculty, the north and Franco-Ontarians who pay the price. We need the federal government and all governments to step in for a publicly funded solution.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member is a representative of people in remote communities from the north. One of the huge programs being cut is the midwifery program. It is the only bilingual midwifery program in all of Canada.

Could she talk about the impact that will have on her communities and on women in those remote areas who have limited access to reproductive health services?

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, indigenous women, and particularly those living in northern Canada, are already at a disadvantage in terms of accessing reproductive services and crucial health services. It is a no-brainer that the loss of the midwifery program is nothing short of devastating. We need to see an immediate governmental response, in part because of the gendered impact of these cuts. It is women who will pay the price: Indigenous, northern and Franco-Ontarian women. We cannot let this happen. We need the federal government to step in.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for really articulating the impact of these cuts on northern Ontario and all of Canada. One thing we have not talked enough about is what students are going through right now. We hear about students across the country. Last summer they had a shortened work season. They are studying under difficult conditions. With COVID, they are under unbelievable stress.

Can the member talk about how unfair this is to those students, how this is going to cost them the ability to further their educations and how many of them are having to transfer to other institutions and impede their—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

We have run out of time and I was hoping to allow a quick question.

I will ask the hon. member to answer briefly. The hon. member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, my colleague has clearly spoken to the personal crisis that so many students are facing. I also cannot imagine what Laurentian students are going through right now. There has been a lot out on social media.

This is a crisis on many levels and this really is about the desperate need to have all governments step in, particularly the federal government, to ensure that these young people have a brighter future. We can do that. We have the power to do that. Let us resolve to do that coming out of this emergency debate.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

It being midnight, I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until later this day at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 12 a.m.)