In the wake of the news of the Laurentian layoffs and the
provincial government’s unwillingness to assist the situation there in any
direct financial fashion, a new disruption to northern Ontario’s universities
was announced. The Ontario Government apparently
without consulting with the affected stakeholders is now proposing that the Northern
Ontario School of Medicine and the Université
de Hearst become independent, stand- alone universities. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine
(NOSM) opened in 2005 and is currently a not-for-profit corporation of Lakehead
University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury. Obviously, the province is using the current
restructuring and chaos at Laurentian to pursue other agendas that include
interfering in existing corporate arrangements.
Clearly, it does not have enough on its hands with the pandemic.
The creation of NOSM was a long-term effort by many in
northern Ontario and since its opening 2005 an ongoing partnership has been
forged with university faculty and staff on both campuses, health-care
providers, Indigenous communities, community and regional business leaders. The academic oversight provided by Lakehead
and Laurentian has created a unique curriculum that has trained over 600
physicians in a learning model that spans the entire region and conducted research
and training relevant to health needs in the north. NOSM has made use of
infrastructure – buildings, administration, services and otherwise – on both
campuses that have generated substantial cost savings for the government. Given
the Ontario government has already stressed university finances by cutting
tuition 10 percent and freezing it and keeping provincial grants frozen, why
would it continue to stress specific institutions in northern Ontario further
by subjecting them to the disruption and costs of tearing asunder something
that is working?
This development is really quite remarkable, and one wonders
if the province is planning to sever the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
from its affiliation with McMaster or unilaterally grant the University of Toronto’s
Faculty of Medicine independent status also?
Probably not, because those are settled southern schools in the
provincial heartland and the core of Ontario civilization which is nestled in a
10-kilometer swath alongside the 401 Highway corridor. Meanwhile, the Northern Ontario School of
Medicine is so far away and therefore is still considered part of Ontario’s
colonial administration heritage. The colonialist overtones of this intrusive
activity are even more remarkable given that NOSM in particular has a focus on
rural/remote and indigenous health and services. Or, has the provincial government already
obtained buy-in from First Nations in Ontario’s North? There has been silence so far from Alvin Fiddler,
the Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation who is usually quick to respond to
injustice.
The provincial government news release calls this action “Steps
to Strengthen Postsecondary Education in Northern Ontario.” How making NOSM with 460 students and Hearst with
160 students separate independent degree granting institutions strengthens the
system by adding two tiny universities that will require endless subsidization
beyond what they are already getting is considered sound public policy is a good question. And one imagines that in the case of NOSM,
the fact that it was on two campuses was never something that it liked and may
even be complicit with the government in getting separate status so they can
move to a shiny new campus in one location. After all, even if the province did
not consult with Lakehead or Laurentian before announcing their proposal, they
must have discussed it with NOSM’s administration, right? I would not be
surprised if NOSM’s future new stand-alone home is a nice new mega building and
campus in Sault Ste. Marie, home of the current minister of Colleges and
Universities. Who benefits from
government policy is always a good question to ask.
