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

B.C. moves flavoured nicotine pouches behind pharmacy counters to protect kids

B.C. moves flavoured nicotine pouches behind pharmacy counters to protect kids
B.C.'s government has ordered that flavoured nicotine pouches only be sold from behind pharmacy counters in the province in an effort to prevent youth from becoming addicted. The order signed by Health Minister Adrian Dix means buyers of the pouches, which contain up to four milligrams of nicotine, will have to consult a pharmacist.

B.C. moves flavoured nicotine pouches behind pharmacy counters to protect kids

Social media firms can't be let 'off the hook' for deadly sextortion of kids: Eby

Social media firms can't be let 'off the hook' for deadly sextortion of kids: Eby
Premier David Eby says social media companies can't be let "off the hook" after two B.C. teens died by suicide shortly after falling victim to online sextortion scams. Eby's comments came one day after Surrey RCMP announced a man in Nigeria has been arrested and charged in one of those cases following a lengthy international investigation.

Social media firms can't be let 'off the hook' for deadly sextortion of kids: Eby

No new restrictions on B.C. sex offender Hopley, who went on run: parole board

No new restrictions on B.C. sex offender Hopley, who went on run: parole board
High-risk B.C. sex offender Randall Hopley, who went on the run for 10 days in November, will still be allowed overnight community leave with the approval of his parole officer, after the parole board decided not to impose new restrictions. Premier David Eby says he "can't fathom" the ruling and it isn't acceptable that Hopley, who abducted a three-year-old boy in 2011, has been "released again with the same conditions."  

No new restrictions on B.C. sex offender Hopley, who went on run: parole board

Extortion Investigate Task Force arrests 5 South Asians

Extortion Investigate Task Force arrests 5 South Asians
Gagan Ajit Singh, Anmoldeep Singh, Hashmeet Kaur, Iymanjot Kaur, and Arundeep Thind  have been charged with  mischief to property, threats, and firearms-related offences.  

Extortion Investigate Task Force arrests 5 South Asians

B.C. and Alberta trucking firms ask court to lift bans imposed after overpass crash

B.C. and Alberta trucking firms ask court to lift bans imposed after overpass crash
Two trucking firms say the B.C. government wrongly concluded they were "one operation" after an overpass crash last December, and want a court to let them both back on the province's road.  B.C.-based Chohan Freight Forwarders Ltd. and Alberta-based Chohan Group Ltd. say in B.C. Supreme Court petitions that they're separate legal entities but have a family connection. 

B.C. and Alberta trucking firms ask court to lift bans imposed after overpass crash

Indo-Canadian sentenced for carrying loaded 'ghost gun' in mall

Indo-Canadian sentenced for carrying loaded 'ghost gun' in mall
A 23-year-old Indo-Canadian has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for carrying a loaded "ghost gun" at a mall in the country's British Columbia province. Arunjit Singh Virk, who was arrested in March 2021, was also prohibited from possessing any firearm, restricted weapon, or ammunition for 10 years, Ontario-based CTV News reported on Tuesday.

Indo-Canadian sentenced for carrying loaded 'ghost gun' in mall