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Tricultural Committee applauds efforts to create Indigenous university in the North

New committee, which will lobby to fill education gaps created by Laurentian University programming cuts, says an Indigenous university is essential to the well-being of First NationsĀ 
UniversityofSudburyWinter2020_3Sized
University of Sudbury. (File)

A new group dedicated to showing support for communities impacted by the cuts at Laurentian University is applauding an offer by the University of Sudbury to create an Indigenous post-secondary institution in the North.

The group introduced itself in a June 9 open letter to University of Sudbury president John Meehan.

The Tricultural Committee for University Education is made up of representatives of Save our Sudbury, the Coalition nord-ontarienne pour une université de langue française à Sudbury, and key leaders of local Indigenous communities.

The group has “started a tricultural conversation to build bridges and demonstrate support for the other communities impacted by the cuts at Laurentian.”

The term “tricultural,” by the way, refers to Laurentian’s “tricultural mandate,” as it is supposed to serve the Anglophone, Francophone and Indigenous communities.

Laurentian University announced Feb. 1 it is insolvent, and had filed for creditor protection under the Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act (CCAA), a move that’s unprecedented in the post-secondary sector.

As part of its subsequent restructuring, Laurentian announced it would be severing the more than 60-year-old federation agreement with the federated universities operating on campus — the University of Sudbury, Thorneloe University and Huntington University.

For its part, the University of Sudbury has announced its intention to work with the Francophone community to become a French-language post-secondary institution for Northern Ontario.

Known for its Indigenous Studies program, the University of Sudbury has also offered a similar arrangement to the Indigenous community, although no formal arrangements have been announced.

None of the three federated universities are currently offering any courses toward Laurentian degrees. Laurentian has taken on a few Indigenous Studies courses in the short term as the result of an agreement with the University of Sudbury.

The Tricultural Committee said in its letter to Meehan it is “dismayed” that Laurentian’s actions have endangered the Indigenous Studies program.

“We welcome and applaud the offer made by the University of Sudbury to the Indigenous

communities to use the Lalemant charter to create a post-secondary Indigenous institution,” the group said in their letter.

“We would like to collectively express through you to the current leadership in Indigenous communities and organizations in North Eastern Ontario, that we stand in solidarity with any initiative they wish to move forward with that would see not only the continuation of this very important programming, but would establish it on a strong basis that would allow it to grow.”

The letter said these teachings are “essential to our shared history, to the well-being of all Northern Ontario communities, and to our diverse cultures.”

“Above all,” the letter continues, “they are essential to Indigenous people. We sincerely support any initiative that will provide the space for Indigenous education in Northern Ontario to be dreamed and imagined according to the will of its communities.

“We have heard their voices saying what is essential to the well-being of Indigenous people; Indigenous education led and taught for and by Indigenous People, right here in Northern Ontario.”