Laurentian University violated Ontario’s French Language Services Act by eliminating all programs leading to two designated degrees, Ontario’s French Language Services Commissioner Kelly Burke concludes in an investigation report filed Thursday.
The commissioner began her investigation last June, after receiving 60 complaints about the cancellation of 72 programs, including 29 in French, at the Sudbury university. Due to partial designation under the French Language Services Act, the institution should have ensured that its degrees could be obtained in French. “Being nominated is a privilege and a great responsibility,” said Kelly Burke at a press conference.
In addition to investigating Laurentian’s obligations, Ms.me Burke and his team also looked at those of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the Ministry of Francophone Affairs. According to the commissioner, these departments have been “lax” and have not fulfilled their responsibility to protect French-language services. “It is unacceptable that three institutions have not taken the necessary measures to comply with the Act,” she said Thursday morning.
For its part, the University says it did not consult the ministries to discuss the effect of its decisions, “although it realized that its financial difficulties could have repercussions on the programs leading to the degrees designated “. The investigation also revealed that the post-secondary institution had canceled more programs than it had initially announced.
In a press release, the institution said it was ready to work with the two ministries to follow up on Commissioner Burke’s recommendations.
A confusing definition
Kelly Burke reported confusion over the scope of the University’s partial designation under the French Language Services Act. The wording of the designation appears to indicate that the programs leading to the designated degrees are protected, the report reads. “However, the three organizations targeted by the investigation told us that it was in fact only diplomas that were protected,” added the commissioner.
The Office of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario concludes, however, that Laurentian University has violated the Act with this too “narrow” interpretation and now invites it to adopt a broader view of its obligations by protecting study programs. .
“The University gave a master class on how to violate the French Language Services Act,” says François Larocque, language rights specialist. The professor from the University of Ottawa also believes that the interpretation of the designation was more generous when it was put in place in 2014. Such a change in reading, “it reveals a fragility in any administration”, believes- he.
“There are administrations that change and some should perhaps inform themselves,” also said Matthew Conway, former political attaché to the Minister of Francophone Affairs, Caroline Mulroney.
The shortcomings did not begin when the University took shelter from its creditors in February 2021, and are not limited to the elimination of the two degrees. A program leading to one of the designated degrees — the master’s degree in physical activity — was scrapped in July 2020, the commissioner notes. The University withdrew this service “unequivocally”, thus violating its obligations under section 10 of the French Language Services Act, writes Kelly Burke.
To avoid any confusion in the future, the Commissioner recommends that the Ministry of Francophone Affairs communicate its obligations clearly in writing to Laurentian — and that the explanation be made public. This is one of 19 recommendations in the report.
Where were the ministries?
The Ministry of Colleges and Universities was informed as early as December 2020 that Laurentian University was considering sheltering itself from its creditors. From that moment, information meetings took place between the ministry and the establishment, but the latter’s obligations in terms of services in French “were not discussed” before April 21, 2021, learns- we in the report.
All Ontario ministries have a French Language Services Coordinator, who is responsible for obtaining information from designated agencies to assess their compliance with the Act. The report, however, indicates that the Ministry of Colleges and Universities did not consult it between July 2020 and April 2021.
The Ministry of Francophone Affairs should be more proactive in enforcing the French Language Services Act, recommends Kelly Burke. At this time, designated agencies and sponsoring departments are “expected to report any issues,” the report noted. The department must therefore show more leadership in protecting the language rights of Francophones, according to the commissioner, who suggests that it be reorganized in order “to properly administer the law [et de] make sure that we don’t have another similar situation”.
The former political attaché of Minister Mulroney, Matthew Conway, however, defends the Ministry of Francophone Affairs on this level. The latter is limited in its actions by its workforce, he says: “There are just X number of hours in a day. »
On the side of the NDP opposition, we are not surprised by the shortcomings of Francophone Affairs. “I never had much confidence in the ministry […]and the level has not changed,” commented Nickel Belt MP France Gélinas.
“Laurentian is autonomous, and academic and administrative matters are at its discretion,” said spokespersons for the two ministries concerned in response to the commissioner’s investigation.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.