Close X
Friday, October 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantle UBC camp

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Jul, 2024 05:10 PM
  • Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantle UBC camp

A pro-Palestinian protest camp that had occupied a sports field at the University of British Columbia's Vancouver campus for more than two months has been dismantled by the demonstrators.

Dozens of tents had been removed by Monday, although barricades and fencing around the site remain in place.

A statement from UBC says "protesters decamped from MacInnes Field" adjacent to the school's transit loop and student union building on Sunday, but did not elaborate. 

A spokeswoman for the protest camp confirmed in a text message that it had closed.

A UBC security guard at MacInnes Field who declined to be named said the protesters vacated the site without giving any notice on Sunday evening.

Guards were patrolling the area Monday to prevent unauthorized people from entering the field while they waited for cleanup crews to arrive.

On Friday, more than 35 tents and a small handful of people were visible at the site that had been occupied since late April by protesters demanding that UBC end any financial or academic ties with Israeli companies or institutions.

A spokeswoman for Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., said it had no update on a protest camp there. The University of Victoria did not respond to requests for updates on an encampment at its campus.

The low-key closure of the UBC camp came after another protest site at the University of Toronto was vacated last week. That came after a judge ruled in favour of an injunction sought by the school to clear the camp.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen ruled the encampment took away the school’s ability to control what happened on its properties. The result, Koehnen said, amounted to irreparable harm.

"In our society, we have decided that the owner of property generally gets to decide what happens on the property," Koehnen’s decision said.

University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist had said the Ontario decision could act as a road map for other schools looking to remove protest camps. He said its reliance on property law meant schools could issue trespass notices to protesters before starting the legal process of clearing them out.

Protesters at several Canadian schools including UBC issued a joint statement on social media last week calling the Ontario decision "shameful" for prioritizing property ownership over students' rights.

The statement said protesters would "continue to act on our campuses and apply pressure to our universities through every possible avenue."

The UBC camp once included about 75 tents and was bustling with music and activity, but at one point on Friday only three people could be seen inside the fenced zone.

Vancouver Island University had said in a statement last week after the Ontario court decision that it was "exploring similar legal avenues taken by other institutions."

The school said about 25 protesters occupied a school building in late June and disrupted an exam, while another building was vandalized over the Canada Day long weekend.

Vancouver Island University said its settlement proposal to the protesters had been rejected, and the escalation of disruptions on campus shows "encampment participants are unwilling to engage in good-faith dialogue."

MORE National ARTICLES

Former MP Raj Grewal sues for damages following acquittal last year

Former MP Raj Grewal sues for damages following acquittal last year
Former Liberal MP Raj Grewal is seeking millions of dollars in damages from the RCMP and the Ontario attorney general after being acquitted of using his political office for personal gain. In a statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court, Grewal's counsel alleges the Mounties were negligent in their investigation and that the Crown breached his right to a fair trial by unreasonably pursuing the prosecution.

Former MP Raj Grewal sues for damages following acquittal last year

Vancouver celebrates Year of the Dragon at 50th Chinatown Spring Festival

Vancouver celebrates Year of the Dragon at 50th Chinatown Spring Festival
Dragons danced to the beat of drums through the streets of Vancouver's historic Chinatown neighbourhood Sunday morning. The spectacle was part of the 50th Anniversary of the Chinatown Spring Festival Parade. The procession began at 11 a.m. at the newly refurbished Millennium Gate and thousands lined the 1.3 kilometre route to watch.

Vancouver celebrates Year of the Dragon at 50th Chinatown Spring Festival

RCMP locate vehicle involved in fatal hit and run in Courtenay

RCMP locate vehicle involved in fatal hit and run in Courtenay
Mounties in British Columbia's Comox Valley say they have found the vehicle that was involved in a fatal hit and run earlier this week. They say officers responded to a report of an injured cyclist around 11 p.m. Thursday on the Comox Valley Parkway near Minto Road in Courtenay. Police say paramedics and firefighters also attended the scene and provided emergency first aid to the man, but he later died of his injuries in hospital. 

RCMP locate vehicle involved in fatal hit and run in Courtenay

Judge overturns convictions of B.C. woman, accused of coughing on grocery worker

Judge overturns convictions of B.C. woman, accused of coughing on grocery worker
A British Columbia woman who was accused of deliberately coughing in the direction of a grocery store worker early in the COVID-19 pandemic has had her convictions for assault and causing a disturbance overturned. A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled on Thursday that Kimberly Woolman should have been allowed to call a character witness in her 2022 trial.  

Judge overturns convictions of B.C. woman, accused of coughing on grocery worker

Woman pleads guilty in Inuit identity fraud case, charges dropped against daughters

Woman pleads guilty in Inuit identity fraud case, charges dropped against daughters
A Toronto woman pleaded guilty Friday in an Inuit identity fraud case as charges against her twin daughters were dropped. Karima Manji, 59, and her 25-year-old daughters, Amira and Nadya Gill, had faced charges of fraud over $5,000.

Woman pleads guilty in Inuit identity fraud case, charges dropped against daughters

Canadians won't be fooled by Putin propaganda on Ukraine, Trudeau says

Canadians won't be fooled by Putin propaganda on Ukraine, Trudeau says
Canadians are too smart to fall for Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.  Trudeau made the remark after he was asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent interview with Tucker Carlson. 

Canadians won't be fooled by Putin propaganda on Ukraine, Trudeau says