TORONTO, September 9, 2021 — OCUFA welcomes the Federal New Democratic Party’s commitment to reform the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) so that public postsecondary education institutions are not subject to restructuring under federal legislation. The commitment, on page 13 of the Federal NDP’s A Better Future for Northern Ontario, states that, if elected, the NDP would, “Reform the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to make sure it can’t be used this way ever again.”
“We are pleased to see the NDP make this commitment and will continue to put pressure on federal candidates from all parties to commit to exempting public institutions, like Laurentian University, from existing corporate restructuring legislation,” said Sue Wurtele, President of OCUFA.
Following Laurentian University’s application for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), OCUFA and its member associations have repeatedly raised concerns about public institutions abusing the CCAA and other legislation designed for private-sector corporations. Laurentian was the first public university in Canada to exploit this legislation and OCUFA wants to make sure it is also the last.
OCUFA is pushing all federal political parties to make similar commitments and will hold Ontario MPs elected to the next parliament accountable for ensuring that the CCAA and Bankruptcy Insolvency Act are updated to exempt all public institutions that receive transfer payments and government operating grants. Both the NDP and Liberals have now made similar commitments.
As part of this effort, OCUFA launched a campaign to put pressure on federal candidates to commit to making these changes: https://ocufa.on.ca/ask-your-federal-candidates-to-exempt-public-institutions-from-the-ccaa/
Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 professors and academic librarians in 30 faculty associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Ben Lewis, OCUFA Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca