Ontario NDP accuses Ford government of 'playing political games' with University of Sudbury

When the Ford government announced it wouldn't fund the University of Sudbury last summer, it said the project did not "reflect the current demand and enrolment trends." 

It went on to say the decision was based on a number of factors, including a review from the independent Post-Secondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB).

But that report was recently made public through a freedom of information request, and shows that the expert panel actually recommended the government go ahead with the project.

"The Panel found that the program met all eight PEQAB Standards," reads the document.

"The panelists identified several risks under the Financial Stability Standard but deemed the institution to be of sufficient quality and stability to proceed to launching its programming."

According to an internal memo obtained by Le Droit through a freedom of information request, Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities did initially approve the University of Sudbury project. 

It then sent it over to the federal government for review, as the federal government is involved in funding minority-language education programs. 

Guy Bourgouin, the Ontario NDP Francophone Affairs Critic, says University of Sudbury president Serge Miville was not notified that the project had been approved by the province. 

Bourgouin says Miville withdrew that initial proposal, not knowing it had been approved, in order to submit a new one requesting more funding – which ended up being turned down in June 2023. 

"I think the Minister needs to come clean here," said Bourgouin. "Why wasn't he made aware? Why do we have to go through freedom of information requests to get this information?" 

Low enrolment at French-language universities

In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities reiterated its position that the University of Sudbury's proposal "did not reflect the current demand and enrolment trends as well as existing capacity of post-secondary institutions to offer French-language programs in the Greater Sudbury area and across Ontario."

The email said that over the past five years, domestic enrolment at French-language universities in the province has remained low.

"Université de l'Ontario français and Université de Hearst have low domestic enrolment, in 2021-2022 they had 61 and 17 domestic students, respectively," the email said.

"Approving and funding a third French-language institution may exacerbate this. In addition, labour market data in relation to program offerings shows there is a need for institutional collaboration to better meet the needs of students in market-driven programs."

The ministry said it launched roundtable discussions last year with Ontario's francophone and bilingual post-secondary institutions to find a sustainable path forward for French-language education in Ontario. 

'This is just another battle'

At a press conference in Sudbury on Thursday, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said she believes the government never intended to approve the project in the first place. 

"The government is playing political games with this issue," she said. "They're now blaming the University of Sudbury for having asked for more money, but they weren't sharing information with the University." 

"I don't know what happened," she added. "I would like the Minister [of Education] and the Minister of Francophone Affairs to come forward and share that with the Franco-Ontarians. What was it that changed suddenly?"

Bourgouin said the Ford government's lack of transparency on this file is frustrating, but maintains Franco-Ontarians are not going to give up on the project. 

"This is just another battle, and we're accustomed to it. We've been fighting governments for 400 years and we've been successful. If they think we're going to drop the ball on this one, they don't know who we are." 

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities did not respond to CBC/Radio-Canada's request for comment by time of publication.