The UOF made the announcement Thursday afternoon in a press release.
“This change follows the decision of Mr. Pierre Ouellette at the end of his university cycle not to return as rector next September,” said the Franco-Ontarian university.
By announcing this fourth change of rectorship in five years, the UOF did not give a precise reason for the departure of Pierre Ouellette.
In an interview with Le Droit, the president of the university’s governance council, Jacques Naud, affirmed that Mr. Ouellette had “recently informed him of his desire to leave the UOF, at the end of the financial year, April 30.
Pierre Ouellette will be replaced by Normand Labrie, who had already served as interim rector of the UOF in 2019, before leaving his position shortly after the Ford government announced that it would not fund the post-secondary institution.
It is therefore a return home for Mr. Labrie, “a craftsman from the start,” notes Jacques Naud.
Normand Labrie, rector of the University of French Ontario (UOF) (Courtesy, UOF)
“Experience and leadership convince us that he will carry out his mandate in the best way and that he will contribute to the development of this institution for which the community fought,” indicated the president of the Assembly of la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO), Peter Hominuk.
Rectoral changes
Mr. Labrie’s one-year contract as interim rector with the UOF ended in 2019.
When he left, no one knew if he would be replaced, given the financial uncertainty imposed by the province at the time.
Norman Labrie then became vice-dean of the Institute of Educational Studies at the University of Toronto, a position he holds until today.
In the meantime, the Progressive Conservative government finally signed a funding agreement with Ottawa and the UOF, and a few months later, in August 2020, André Roy became rector.
The latter only remained in office for six months before announcing his resignation, citing “personal reasons”.
That’s when Pierre Ouellette took office, in July 2021.
“He made a great contribution during his three years with us,” said Jacques Naud.
“Serious reservations”
Pierre Ouellette, last April, told Radio-Canada that the launch of the Franco-Ontarian university would have been done differently if he had been rector at that time.
Pierre Ouellette, former rector of the UOF. (University of Hearst/University of Hearst)
He had shared his doubts with the public broadcaster about the four programs chosen by the administration during the opening of the UOF.
At the time, Normand Labrie was in office, and he was involved in the orientations of the UOF project and in the development of its programs, according to Mr. Naud.
However, the president of the governance council assures that the doubts expressed by Pierre Ouellette concerning the UOF programs are not linked to his departure.
financial state
In recent months, the financial statements of post-secondary institutions have caused a lot of discussion across the province.
Last November, Pierre Ouellette sent a letter to Alan Harrison, the president of the committee of experts responsible for examining the financial statements of the province’s post-secondary institutions.
In this letter, he expressed “serious reservations” about the assertions made in the report, particularly with regard to questioning the financial viability of the UOF and the University of Hearst.
He raised “erroneous information”, including about the number of foreign versus Canadian students.
“The lack of understanding and rigor of the report on the situation of French-speaking universities as well as the lack of objectivity towards them are disappointing given the importance of the mandate entrusted to the group of experts,” he lamented.
Strategic plan
Furthermore, the UOF unveiled on April 12 a strategic plan to establish its priorities over the next five years and determine where resources will be allocated.
The university establishment also says, in this plan, that it wants to “update the foundations of the UOF to face a changing environment” and offer programs that correspond to the needs of the job market.
According to Jacques Naud, Normand Labrie will quickly get back into the swing of things at the French-speaking university located in Toronto, since he is “a leading authority on teaching, research and university management,” and he “is ready to ensure that programs can evolve according to market developments.
