Faculty, Students and the Community Speak Out
Students, faculty, community members and many representing students
and university faculty have been speaking out against the use of the
CCAA to restructure Laurentian University on the backs of Laurentian
teachers, students and the community, and to destroy educational
programs that serve the unique needs of northern communities.
Workers' Forum is reproducing below some excerpts from what is being said:
Sudbury Metis Council
Open Letter to support the legacy of Indigenous Studies founders at Laurentian University
Dear Dr. Haché,
On behalf of the Sudbury Council of the Metis Nation of Ontario, we
urge Laurentian University to retain the faculty of the University of
Sudbury's Department of Indigenous Studies.
The role of community and relationships in Indigenous epistemologies
cannot be understated; the contexts and lineages of knowledge transfer
and translation are vital to Indigenous ways of understanding the
world. With their expertise in the discipline, as well as its languages
and discourses, the current Indigenous Studies faculty is uniquely
positioned to carry on the legacy in which they are rooted -- that
of some of the most respected Indigenous elders, knowledge keepers, and
water- and land-protectors of Turtle Island.
Métis citizens enrolled in the program have informed us of
Laurentian University's current arrangement to dismiss the Indigenous
Studies faculty while assuming the titles and federal dollars
associated with it.
Proceeding with this plan is an act of violence that removes the
program's heart: the people who have shaped it. This arrangement
undervalues Indigenous Studies as a distinct discipline involving
apprenticeship and expertise, shows disregard for Indigenous
epistemologies and worldviews, and erodes our trust, as Indigenous
people, in LU's
capacity to decolonize education for our students.
In that spirit, and in support of our students, the Sudbury
Métis Council urges the university to keep the faculty along
with the program. To do otherwise represents another great loss and a
great step backwards in the work towards Reconciliation.
Sincerely,
Maurice Sarrazin, President, Sudbury Métis Council
Kirsten McPherson, Secretary, Sudbury Metis Council
Kristen Lavallee, Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work
After describing her experience, which is the experience of many
students, of being blocked by the university from having what they need
to complete their courses, she addresses the bigger issue of what is
being done to the Indigenous Studies program:
"Laurentian University's current administration is attempting to
take the knowledge of the Indigenous knowledge keepers who have created
the Indigenous Studies program at University of Sudbury. This is an
attempt to appease the students to develop the knowledge being taken
into an Indigenous perspectives path at Laurentian University.
"The dissolving of the federations, the mining of knowledge and silencing of the students are colonial efforts."
Dr. Dieter K Buse, Professor Emeritus,
Laurentian University Department of History
"Yesterday changed Laurentian University from a community-serving to
an industry-serving university. I emphasize that the incompetent and
unrepresentative board and negligent top administrators altered the
fundamental nature of local higher education from broadly
community-serving to narrowly industry-serving. The technical college
that
will emerge will lack the balance to have a notable reputation."
Reuben Roth, Terminated Co-Ordinator of the
Workplace and Labour Studies Program
In response to a question from a student in a Facebook forum as to
whether the CCAA court would consider an alternative to Haché's
restructuring proposal...
"The plight of students won't rend their hearts, these are corporate
lawyers and judges. Sharpshooters like lawyer D.J. Miller have made a
quarter-century career out of using bankruptcy and insolvency
legislation to dissemble companies and sell them off for pennies on the
dollar, they regularly gut workers' pensions, tear up their contracts,
and
enrich their clients at the expense of employees who were never in
positions of power. It's their job and they're well-compensated for it.
"Plus, they've been destroying the lives of employees' families
longer than my students have been alive. Life lesson: don't expect
sympathy from sociopaths. [...]
"Air Canada's bailout by the federal government could bail
Laurentian out 677 times. That's not a joke. So universities die while
businesses are bailed out by governments.
"And we need this law, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act,
scrapped or reformed. Whether you're in the public or private sector,
it's been responsible for the destruction of working-class families'
lives for decades."
Canadian Federation of Students -- Ontario
In a statement entitled "Broken Promises and Devastating Cuts for Laurentian University Students:"
"The administration and provincial government are using this
mechanism to avoid oversight and consultation with students, faculty
and the general public, while forcing a heavy-handed restructuring
process with the affected parties under duress with inappropriate
timelines." Kayla Weiler, National Executive Representative at Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario, notes.
"It is unacceptable that students, who have invested so much in
their education, are impacted by financial challenges created by
reckless administrative decisions and the erosion of public university
funding. The manufactured crisis at Laurentian could be stopped at any
time by the Ontario government. The 2021 budget is the third budget in
a
row with reduced funding for PSE. It is time to invest in all students
no matter where they live in Ontario.'"
This article was published in
May 14, 2021 - No. 44
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08442.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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