It's being hailed as welcome news by most, as the Ontario government announced it's coming through with million in new funding for Sudbury's Laurentian University.
According to news releases from both the school and the government, the province appears to be coming through with $35-million and will be seeking to step in as the school's lender for the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act process.
The Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dunlop, also announced in a news release that the school would be getting $6-million to help for COVID-19-related costs and another $22-million for something called 'performance protection.'
"I really hope that students are excited for this announcement. It really proves that Laurentian has a future now that the province is investing in our school and I hope that students are just as excited as I am," said Avery Morin, a second-year student who is also a vice-president in the Students' General Association at the university.
The move is being hailed as long overdue. Stakeholders, staff members, faculty, students had been calling for provincial funding since February.
"This announcement is a clear signal by the government that they believe in our future and have backed that up with this financial investment. As more details emerge, we will inform the membership," said Tom Fenske, president of the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU) in an email to his members.
Laurentian University in its news release it has also committed to renewing its senior leadership. Effective immediately, 11 members of the board have resigned from their posts and the province will look to replace them.
Fenske said it's a start but more work is needed, including more change at the top.
"I would say we're cautiously optimistic," he said.
"Optimism over the last 10 months has been extremely hard to find at this institution, so I think you're feeling a lot of optimism about this announcement because we've had nothing to look forward to other than helping the students."
No one was available for an interview within the administration but Laurentian University did offer a statement from President Robert Haché:
"This announcement is great news for northern Ontario, for our community and for students everywhere who want to study at a bilingual university in a tricultural environment. The Province’s support helps LU continue its mission of providing quality, accessible post-secondary education."
City Councillor Mark Signoretti joined students on the protest line on a rainy day in April after the extent of the cuts at the school had become known throughout the city.
"It's a hard lesson to deal with and a hard lesson to go through. I wouldn't want to see any other community have to deal with the same issue," Signoretti said.
"Yes, it's an example that we don't want to be leading by, but it did happen and there's corrections being looked at. But with this money, it'll help give that extra boost that the community needs."
The province, for its part, said it acted quickly after Laurentian University made its application through the CCAA and appointed an advisor.
Dunlop's office declined CTV News' request for an interview but in a statement writes in part:
"Laurentian University students remain the government's priority and we are focused on ensuring that students get the support they need without experiencing any setbacks because of Laurentian's financial situation."
"It's a hopeful announcement. It's a substantial amount of money. We were calling on the government to step in much earlier, to do something much earlier, back in February. We're almost at a year now of CCAA," Sudbury MPP Jamie West said.
He and Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas had been calling on the government to step in since the insolvency crisis began.
Gélinas said a lot of this could have likely been avoided had the province stepped in sooner to deal with it.
"They gave money for COVID to every university. They should have never held that back. So this money is finally flowing but they are finally giving Laurentian $35-million, which means the financial trouble should be over and the time to rebuild should start anytime now," she said.
A university filing for creditor protection is unheard of, Gelinas said.
"It's never been used before and we will make sure that it's never used again," she added.
The legal woes aren't over for Laurentian University. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, including how the plan to refinance will work. There's also a motion still before the courts over documents that Laurentian refused to hand over to the Ontario Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk. The Ontario legislature has issued a Speaker's Warrant to the school ordering the requested documents be disclosed to Lysyk.
No word yet on when her office plans to finish her investigation on what happened to cause the current financial crisis.
