Sudbury chamber hears from Laurentian University about the school’s future

Thursday in Sudbury, the business community heard from Jeff Bangs, chair of the board of Laurentian University.

The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon where Bangs was guest speaker to bring the chamber up to date on the road ahead as Laurentian emerges from insolvency.

Bangs called the insolvency process under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) “exhausting.” But he said the institution is working on rebuilding trust and improving transparency.

"It's going to be key that people understand that things won't change overnight,” he said.

“We have made incredible progress but it is going to take time yet to really lay the foundation so that we can never repeat the mistakes of the past."

Bangs said in the future, LU will have internal financial controls in place, something that was missing before, and donors and funding partners will never be let down again.

"It wasn't used for the intended purpose and that was a huge revelation and shock to many people in the community -- and those donors and granting agencies in particular,” he said.

“It's incumbent on us to make sure that if people invest in Laurentian in the future for a specific purpose, the money is used for that purpose. It has to be.”

The chamber said it invited Bangs because it keeps hearing from the business community about the lack of information coming from Laurentian throughout the entire CCAA process.

"Members want to know because Laurentian is a huge economic driver for our city, a huge employer and huge labour pool availability," said Anthony Davis, the chair of the chamber’s board.

Bangs said the exit financing arrangement also includes oversight agreements with the province that will be in place for 15 or more years. He said steps are being taken towards board and leadership renewal to put in place people who will be accountable.

"One of the things that became obvious as we went through CCAA and understanding the decade prior was that trust was lacking at Laurentian and relationships were fractured,” Bangs said.

“And the only way I think to move forward and be successful is to invest time.”

The next step in the CCAA process for Laurentian is a deadline to emerge from insolvency at the end of November.