On May 21, nearly a month after Fleming College President Maureen Adamson announced the suspension of 29 programs—16 of which operates out of the Frost Campus in Lindsay—the City of Kawartha Lakes passed a resolution urging Provincial and Federal Governments' support in an effort to bring attention to the college program suspensions.

The resolution follows a May 7th Committee Meeting of the Whole which saw two current Fleming College students Suzanna Mooser and Emily Wakeham enrolled in suspended programs call on council to put pressure on the college and foster community support in wake of the suspensions. 

The May 21st meeting once again saw a delegation speaking to the gravity of the program suspensions and voice concerns over the consequences the City of Kawartha Lakes will face as a result of the cuts. 

Fleming College alumni in heavy equipment techniques (one of the newly suspended programs), Jamie Molloy, spoke to council about his experience as both a Fleming alumni and small business owner in the heavy equipment and diesel generator industry.

Molloy’s business, Iron Equipment, is in competition with other companies to employ graduates from these programs. During his delegation, Molloy acknowledged the economic perspective the College faced in suspending these programs, but said he did not think the College considered the return on investment when making their decision. 

“As a community, we should be working with our government to provide College boards with the appropriate figures regarding the return to the community so that in the future they can make better informed decisions,” he said.

Molloy then requested council’s support in his advocacy for the reinstatement of the heavy equipment and generator technician, urging them to “speak loudly” and find a resolution in the face of the suspensions. 

“With your support, we can hope to involve the Ontario Government providing figures to Fleming College that would persuade them to reinstate [the suspended programs],” he concluded. 

Councillor Dan Joyce echoed Molloy’s urgency to reverse the suspension, and asked him to speak to President Adamson’s recent letter to Council that the suspended programs aren’t “viable”.

In response, Molloy admitted it is not an inexpensive course to run and “probably doesn’t make as much money as other courses,” but said the City has to provide a mandate “to support our community and make money—there’s gotta be some middle ground here.”

Additionally, Councillor Eric Smeaton outlined the requirement that any post-secondary programs that meet critical labour markets be retained, and asked Molloy—in his professional opinion—if his trade is a critical labour market, to which Molloy enthusiastically stated that it is. 

Following his colleagues remarks, Councillor Ron Ashmore stated that the suspensions are “a real gut punch to the community”, and questioned the lack of numbers provided by President Adamson that justifies the number of cuts, and voiced his support for finding a solution to combat the suspensions.

Deputy Mayor Charlie McDonald then put forward the resolution to call on the support of the Provincial and Federal Government, stating that the course suspensions are “bigger than us” and “this is something that we need to support students and everyone going forward in.”

The resolution would encourage both branches of government to “invest in and provide support legislation that promoted colleges—specifically Fleming Frost Campus—with the stability and resources to support, maintain, and expand local academic programming and community workforce development,” as the Deputy Mayor outlined during the meeting. 

He also stated that the resolution would be shared with multiple ministries and representatives, including Kawartha Lakes MP Jamie Schmale and MPP Laurie Scott, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, the Provincial Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Minister of Immigration, and the Provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to name a few. 

The resolution was passed unanimously.