The leader of the federal NDP said he’s “reserving judgement to see what comes out of it” regarding consultations on federal insolvency laws inspired by Laurentian University’s recent journey under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
Jagmeet Singh did a one-on-one interview with Sudbury.com on the topic during his visit to Greater Sudbury on May 6.
The consultations were launched by Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne on May 2, and are to take place over the next month.
“I’ve seen the Liberal government do a lot of consultations, like talk a lot, but not really do much in terms of action,” Singh said.
“So I'm really reticent to weigh in until I see what the outcome is, because there's been a lot of talk from Prime Minister Trudeau — a lot of big talk and then small action. Like, it's not good enough to just do the consultation if you're not going to implement anything that's going to be meaningful, improving things for the future.”
Singh said, though, it’s clear that insolvency laws should apply differently to businesses than publicly funded institutions such as post-secondary schools.
“I think there needs to be a recognition that there are different goals,” he said. “Business has a different set of criteria. It's different than a public institution, and there needs to be a recognition of that in the laws.”
Sen. Lucie Moncion, a graduate of LU, has authored a bill which is currently before the Senate. The bill aims to prevent post-secondary institutions from accessing the CCAA as a means of dealing with financial hardship.
Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe has said she would sponsor the bill if it’s passed by the Senate.
However, Singh said if the federal Liberals are serious about the issue, they would bring forward a government bill to have the CCAA amended.
“If the Liberals are actually serious about protecting universities in the future, then they should bring in a government legislation, which would have priority, which would get passed quicker and would ensure that it sees the light of day,” he said.
Late last year, following Laurentian’s exit from insolvency after 22 months, Timmins-James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus also introduced a private member’s bill on the same topic.
However, his bill goes further, and would prevent all publicly funded institutions from seeking creditor protection under the CCAA.
“It would provide more protection, and it’s more in line with what the community wants, I think,” Singh said.
“It’s broader. The purpose behind legislation is to acknowledge the public benefit, and to reflect the public’s values. So legislation should reflect what people are feeling. People inherently believe that our hospitals or universities are very different from a multi-billion dollar corporation, they should be treated differently … And that's why our legislation calls for acknowledging that public sentiment and putting that into place in a real law.”
Asked if he thinks the federal Liberals will pass changes to federal insolvency laws during this term in the House of Commons, Singh said he doesn’t think it’s a priority for them.
“I mean, if they were serious about it, I would think they'd bring in a government bill, and then we could definitely get it done,” he said.
“So far, they've not signalled a government bill. So to me, again, I don't think it's a priority for them. We put forward our private member's bill, we're pushing for it, we think it's important. And now it's really the ball’s in the Liberals’ court, do they really believe in it?”
Sudbury.com asked Singh if the NDP could exert some pressure regarding CCAA laws under the party’s confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals, but the party leader didn’t seem optimistic.
That’s despite Singh touting his party’s influence on the Liberals to set up a national dental care program.
“So we're pushing, putting a lot of pressure, but they don't seem to be taking it that seriously,” he said.
As for the federal Conservatives, Singh said they may have stated they’re opposition to what happened at Laurentian University, but claims their track record tells a different story.
“They don’t invest more in post-secondary education, they don’t invest in public infrastructure,” he said. “They believe in everything being profit-driven, and private and for-profit. That’s what they do.”
In reflecting on the Laurentian University situation, Singh said changing federal CCAA laws is not enough.
“I think there needs to be protections in place that guarantee public institutions can thrive,” he said.
“If they are in financial struggles, there's a way to identify that early, there’s a way to prevent it from getting to a point where we lose the benefits of that public institution, and there's quicker intervention to prevent that from happening.”
While post-secondary institutions are a provincial responsibilty, “the federal government does transfer funds for post-secondary,” and there should be a federal interest in checking in on institutions it is funding, he said.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.