SUDBURY -- Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West is hosting a town hall Wednesday to voice opposition to expected program and staffing cuts at Laurentian University.
The event will be carried live on Facebook and an in-person event will be held at Sudbury Indie Cinema.
Laurentian filed for insolvency protection last month, reporting more than $300 million in long-term debts. The administration said without the filing, it would not be able to make its payroll.
The school has said it needs to cut programs and faculty to survive. A court hearing last month was told out of the 1,902 courses offered at the university, 162 have fewer than five students and 180 have between six and 10 students.
But critics say the issue is a lack of funding from the province, and jobs and programs must be saved.
"Laurentian has over 1,700 employees – they shop in our stores, and eat in our restaurants," said the announcement promoting the town hall Wednesday.
"We need to take a stand to demonstrate to the university and the province that Laurentian is an important educational, economic, and cultural part of Sudbury. This process of 'resizing' Laurentian University is biased against the north, and against northern universities, francophone programs and arts education.
"We don’t want a third-rate university," the release continued. "Laurentian hasn’t got the means to save itself, but the province does – and postsecondary education is the primary responsibility of Minister Ross Romano."
The event runs from 6-8 p.m., both online and in person.
