WHEREAS the Auditor General of Ontario released her Special Report on Laurentian University on 17 November 2022; and
WHEREAS this report includes many shocking and scandalous revelations about our senior administration’s reckless and ultimately disastrous mismanagement of Laurentian University between 2010 and 2021; and
WHEREAS this report concludes that, while our senior administrators claimed that “excessive faculty costs” were to blame for Laurentian University’s financial difficulties, “the main cause of its financial decline was poorly planned and costly capital expansion,” exacerbated by the senior administration’s “questionable financial and operational decisions”; and
WHEREAS this report concludes that, while our senior administrators claimed they had no choice but to declare insolvency, “Laurentian’s senior management and Board strategically planned and pursued CCAA restructuring” for almost a year, and “chose to file for CCAA protection in response to the University’s financial decline, poor relations with faculty and staff associations, and the administration’s desire to end agreements with the federated universities”; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that Senate accepts and endorses the findings and recommendations of the Auditor General of Ontario’s authoritative and accurate Special Report on Laurentian University; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns ex-President Dominic Giroux for his mismanagement of this university, as described in the Auditor General’s Special Report; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns ex-Interim President Pierre Zundel for his mismanagement of this university, as described in the Auditor General’s Special Report; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns ex-President Robert Haché for his mismanagement of this university, as described in the Auditor General’s Special Report; and
RESOLVED, that Senate especially condemns ex-President Robert Haché for misleading Senate about the necessity for creditor protection and insolvency proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns ex-Vice-President, Academic Marie-Josée Berger for her mismanagement of this university’s academic affairs, in collaboration with ex-President Robert Haché; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns ex-Vice Presidents, Administration Carol MacAuley and Lorella Hayes, for their mismanagement of this university’s financial affairs, as described in the Auditor General’s Special Report; and
RESOLVED, that Senate condemns Claude Lacroix, the former Chair of Laurentian University’s Board of Governors, for his misgovernment of this university, as described in the Auditor General’s Special Report; and
RESOLVED, that Senate calls for a public inquiry and (if warranted) criminal investigations into the senior administration’s ruinous mismanagement of Laurentian University from 2010 to 2021.