The Executive of CACE, the Canadian Association of Chairs of English, representing the Chairs and Heads of post-secondary English Departments across Canada, wish to express our distress and our outrage following the recent decision to cut programs and jobs at Laurentian University. We are distressed by the uncertainty and continuing sense of loss felt by the students affected by the program closures, the colleagues who were summarily dismissed from their jobs, and the rest of the Laurentian University community who now have to find a way to carry on in the wake of these draconian measures. We are outraged by the utter lack of transparency, the absence of any concern for proper collegial governance and respect for collective agreements, and the total failure of the Laurentian University’s Senior Administration, the Board of Governors, and the Provincial Government either to take any action to prevent this clearly preventable disaster or to take any responsibility for the chain of decisions, or non-decisions, that led to this situation.

            As Department Chairs, we are well aware that sometimes difficult and unpopular decisions need to be made; we are equally aware, however, that the more difficult the decision, the more crucial it is for every aspect of the decision-making process to be as transparent, as forward-looking, and as humane as possible. The leadership of Laurentian University–a group that includes the Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano and Premier Doug Ford–failed on all fronts. And the communities affected, from the faculty and staff who lost their jobs, to the students and families who devoted time, energy, and financial resources to pursuing their dreams, to the people of Sudbury and Northern Ontario, to the entire post-secondary sector in Canada, must pay the price for those profound failures.

            We remain most concerned with the secretive and cowardly way that the entire process was allowed to unfold behind closed doors and with a shocking lack of respect for the people whose lives and livelihoods are on the line. Premier Ford, Minister Romano, and the Laurentian University Administration owe the Laurentian and Sudbury communities, and all Ontario taxpayers and voters, a full and open recounting of all of the details of the process–up to and including the decision to terminate faculty and staff positions via mass virtual meetings–and we urge all of our colleagues in the post-secondary sector to demand accountability and professional oversight.

James Allard, CACE President, Associate Professor and Chair, English Language and Literature, Brock University

Huw Osborne, CACE Vice-President, Associate Professor and Head, English, Culture, and Communication, Royal Military College of Canada

Manina Jones, CACE Member-at-Large, Professor and Chair, English and Writing Studies, Western University

Jacqueline Jenkins, CACE Past-President, Professor and Head, English, University of Calgary

Suzanne Bailey, Professor and Acting Chair, English Literature, Trent University

Brandon Christopher, Associate Professor and Chair, English, University of Winnipeg

Cecily Devereaux, Professor and Chair, English and Film Studies, University of Alberta

Greg Doan, Professor and Chair, English, University of Prince Edward Island

Tamas Dobozy, Professor and Chair, English and Film Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Elizabeth Galway, Associate Professor and Former Chair, English, University of Lethbridge

Ernst Gerhardt, Associate Professor and Chair, English Literature, Media, and Writing, Laurentian University

Roxanne Harde, Professor and Chair, Fine Arts and Humanities, University of Alberta, Augustana Campus

Jason Haslam, Professor and Chair, English, Dalhousie University

Peter Henzi, Acting Chair, English, University of Lethbridge

Douglas Ivison, Associate Professor and Chair, English, Lakehead University

Sean Johnson, Chair, English and Fine Arts, Okanagan College

Jennifer Lokash, Professor and Head, English, Memorial University

Kristin Lucas, Associate Professor and Chair, English Studies, Nipissing University

Shawn Malley, Professor and Chair, English, Bishop’s University

Brent Nelson, Professor and Head, English, University of Saskatchewan

Susie O’Brien, Professor and Chair, English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

Trevor Ponech, Associate Professor and Chair, English, McGill University

Anne Quema, Professor and Incoming Chair, English, Acadia University

Janice Schroeder, Associate Professor and Chair, English, Carleton University

Toni Smith, Professor and Chair, English, Vancouver Island University