Close X
Saturday, October 12, 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

Notley says she'll step down from Alberta NDP helm to make way for fresh voices

Notley says she'll step down from Alberta NDP helm to make way for fresh voices
Former premier Rachel Notley, after almost a decade at the helm of Alberta’s NDP, is stepping down from the top job. Notley, the official Opposition leader, said a leadership race will be called and she will stay on as leader until a replacement is chosen.

Notley says she'll step down from Alberta NDP helm to make way for fresh voices

Small cabinet shuffle in BC

Small cabinet shuffle in BC
A small cabinet shuffle in B-C has promoted Victoria's Grace Lore to the post of minister of children and family development. Premier David Eby announced the previous children's minister, Mitzi Dean, will now be the minister of state for child care.  

Small cabinet shuffle in BC

Day after Trump win in Iowa, Trudeau says U.S. faces choice between optimism, retreat

Day after Trump win in Iowa, Trudeau says U.S. faces choice between optimism, retreat
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says voters in the United States will face a choice later this year between optimism for the future or nostalgia for a past that never existed. Trudeau made the comments in Montreal today to a business crowd in reference to Donald Trump's victory Monday in the Iowa Republican caucuses, which gives the former president an early lead for the Republican nomination ahead of the November election. 

Day after Trump win in Iowa, Trudeau says U.S. faces choice between optimism, retreat

YVR says traffic at pre-COVID levels

YVR says traffic at pre-COVID levels
Vancouver International Airport says traffic forecasts for mid-January show passenger numbers have almost completely recovered to pre-pandemic levels. YVR says it is expecting just over 420-thousand passengers from January 15th to the 21st, just short of the 2019 figure of almost 426-thousand.

YVR says traffic at pre-COVID levels

More than 100 wildfires still not considered out after B.C.'s record wildfire season

More than 100 wildfires still not considered out after B.C.'s record wildfire season
More than 100 wildfires are still listed as burning in British Columbia thanks to a combination of a busy wildfire season, extreme drought and generally warmer and drier conditions through December. Forrest Tower of the BC Wildfire Service said that while it's not uncommon for some fires to burn through the winter, that number usually hovers around a couple dozen, not the 106 that were listed as active on New Year's Day.

More than 100 wildfires still not considered out after B.C.'s record wildfire season

Pedestrian killed in Langley

Pedestrian killed in Langley
Police in Langley are investigating after a pedestrian was struck and killed on Monday. Police say the crash happened at around 7 a-m in the 28-hundred-block of 264 Street.

Pedestrian killed in Langley