Letter to the editor: When economists come for Indigenous education

Submitted by Jackson Pind 

As an alumnus of Laurentian University and current Ph.D. candidate in Indigenous education at Queen’s University, I have been dismayed over the treatment of Laurentian University as it filed for protection from creditors under the CCAA process. Even more embarrassing was the fact that the former provost of Queen’s University, Dr. Alan Harrison, was appointed as the court-ordered mediator responsible for the destruction of a public institution.

On April 1, it was announced that Laurentian University was cancelling historical partnerships with their three federated institutions which founded the University in the late 1960s. This report on the eve of the Easter long weekend and another impending provincial lockdown was especially uncaring. In one e-mail sent at 10:01 pm, the university had undone decades of education for the humanities including fields of communications, Indigenous studies, gerontology, and gender and sexuality. These were popular programs with historical significance as the University of Sudbury created only the third department of Indigenous studies in Canada during the mid-1970s.

As an economist, I am not surprised at Dr. Alan Harrison’s uncreative approach to education which in the e-mail from Laurentian University President Dr. Robert Haché called the cuts a “more efficient delivery model” equating education to purely a service provider. I personally feel that Dr. Harrison should be receiving far more criticism from University Provosts across the country as this CCAA process will also arrive at the doorstep of other institutions.

I think other universities must take collective action to protect Laurentian University and to stop the CCAA process from an important intuition in Northern Ontario. This includes Queen’s University that has had a productive and lasting relationship with Laurentian University and its community.

Right now, Queen’s University has historical ties with Laurentian University as in 2015, Arthur B. McDonald won the Nobel Prize in Physics for research conducted at the SNO lab in Sudbury, Ontario. Laurentian University was a key partner in the funding of this decades-long research that has spawned numerous other scientific advancements. As Queen’s University surely benefited from this relationship (and definitely Alan Harrison as Provost), they should be doing everything in their power to protect the institutions including the humanities which helped provide the research funding for all. On the SNO Lab website, they also recognize the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, a relationship that will be harmed if the Indigenous studies program is discontinued.

A partnership between the wealthy and bankrupt university seems possible if policymakers and stakeholders could look for solutions rather than just cutting. Dr. Harrison is now responsible for allowing the provincial government to not fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Call to Action 16: “We call upon post-secondary institutions to create university and college degree and diploma programs in Aboriginal languages.” This legacy will not be forgotten by members of the Indigenous community as their Indigenous language degrees are no longer available in the largest university in Northern Ontario. Other universities must act to protect Indigenous knowledge if they are truly interested in reconciliation.