McGill University says that after pro-Palestinian activists refused its request to pack up their tents and leave its downtown Montreal campus, it has requested police assistance to have the protesters removed.
鈥淧olice representatives, who have expertise in skilfully resolving situations such as these, have now started their own process,鈥� the university said in a statement Tuesday. 鈥淲e continue to work with them to resolve the matter.鈥�
Montreal police spokeswoman V茅ronique Dubuc said Tuesday the force has received McGill鈥檚 request to dismantle the dozens of tents on the front lawn of its campus and is evaluating 鈥渄ifferent avenues鈥� to respond.
The encampment, which was erected on the weekend just ahead of the end of final exams at McGill, follows a wave of similar protests linked to the Israel-Hamas war on campuses across the United States. Pro-Palestinian protesters have also set up an encampment at the University of British Columbia鈥檚 Point Grey Campus, while the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa have both warned that encampments on campus will not be tolerated.
Later on Tuesday, a lawyer representing two McGill students is scheduled to argue in Quebec Superior Court for an injunction against the protesters. Neil Oberman, with the law firm Spiegel Sohmer, declined to give details about his clients鈥� injunction request, stating simply that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not normal that two students have to hire a lawyer to go to school in Canada.鈥�
Activists at McGill have said they have no intention of dismantling their tents until the school, as well as nearby Concordia University, divest from all companies that protesters claim are 鈥減rofiting from genocide.鈥�
McGill has said many of the activists, if not the majority, are not members of the school community and that it had seen video of some people using 鈥渦nequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour.鈥�
The university forwarded The Canadian Press a link to a video on X, formerly Twitter, that shows protesters on the McGill campus, some masked, chanting 鈥済o back to Europe鈥� and 鈥渁ll Zionists are racist.鈥� When someone in the video responds that his family is from Iraq, one masked person responds, 鈥済o back to Iraq then.鈥�
Encampment members in Montreal have demanded that McGill divest from Israeli companies it says are 鈥渃omplicit in the occupation of Palestine.鈥� They also want the school to cut academic ties with Israeli institutions.
UBC officials say they are monitoring the situation in Vancouver and are reminding protesters to follow the university鈥檚 policy and the law while taking protest action.
B.C. Premier David Eby says student leaders and the administration should balance the need for free speech on campus with the need to foster safe spaces, especially for Jewish students during a time when they need additional support to feel safe.
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