Laurentian University withholding documents for financial audit, Ontario auditor general says

Laurentian University is refusing to provide documents for an audit into its finances, prompting Ontario's auditor general to go to court to request the information.

TORONTO — Laurentian University is refusing to provide documents for an audit into its finances, prompting Ontario’s auditor general to go to court to request the information.

Bonnie Lysyk gave an update Wednesday on her audit of the insolvent Sudbury, Ont., school that filed for creditor protection this year amid financial challenges.

The probe into the publicly funded university’s governance, operations and financial decisions was launched in the spring, but the auditor said the university has refused to provide unfettered and timely access to information.

“Unfortunately, our office has been denied access by Laurentian to information we consider absolutely necessary for the conduct of our audit work,” Lysyk’s report said. “Such a pervasive restriction of our audit work is unprecedented.”

Lysyk said Laurentian has refused to share information deemed privileged by its legal counsel, and also won’t share non-privileged information because it would take too long to vet it.

Protocols put in place by the university have discouraged staff from speaking freely or sharing information and have “created a culture of fear surrounding interactions with our office,” Lysyk’s update said.

Lysyk filed an application in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in September asking a judge to declare the auditor general’s legislated right to privileged information and documents — the first time her office has had to take that step, she told reporters on Wednesday.

“I filed the application to clarify the definition of ‘privileged,”’ she said. “It became obvious that even our access to prove non privileged information was being impacted, as well as our conversations with people.”