At Queen’s Park, there are accusations that making the Northern Ontario School of Medicine independent wasn’t completely above-board.
NDP member for Algoma-Manitoulin Michael Mantha claims the province fast-tracked the process just a week after former mayors of Thunder Bay and Sudbury asked for it to become a separate degree-granting institution.
He says the separation from Lakehead and Laurentian Universities happened too quickly and skipped important steps.
“Considering that the President of Lakehead University was not informed, it is safe to assume that the government probably did not consult with First Nation communities who have close ties with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine,” he argues.
Mantha accuses the Ford government of “playing games” with northern Ontario post-secondary schools.
