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

B.C. braces for winter storm, with 50 cm of snow forecast for inland

B.C. braces for winter storm, with 50 cm of snow forecast for inland
Environment Canada has issued heavy snowfall warnings for a number of key highways in British Columbia with accumulation of up to 50 centimetres possible in some inland stretches. The highway warnings come as British Columbia's south and central coast are getting their first taste of winter weather this year, with snow falling over parts of Metro Vancouver. 

B.C. braces for winter storm, with 50 cm of snow forecast for inland

Floating Hotel to house LNG workers

Floating Hotel to house LNG workers
A ship that will house more than 600 workers at a natural gas construction project north of Vancouver arrived in British Columbia waters this week after a 40-day journey from Estonia, where it had been in use by Ukrainian refugees. The ship is equipped with sewage and water treatment systems as well as industrial-sized heat pumps, and it will connect to the BC Hydro electricity grid.  

Floating Hotel to house LNG workers

Search for suspect vehicle on after Surrey shooting

Search for suspect vehicle on after Surrey shooting
Police in Surrey are looking for a suspect vehicle after shots were fired at an area home. R-C-M-P say it happened on the morning of December 27th, noting no one was injured in the incident.

Search for suspect vehicle on after Surrey shooting

'Prominent' person in B.C. wine industry under investigation for sex assault: RCMP

'Prominent' person in B.C. wine industry under investigation for sex assault: RCMP
Police in Oliver, B.C., say they're investigating a "prominent member" of the province's wine industry for an alleged sexual assault on a Mexican migrant worker. South Okanagan RCMP say the unnamed suspect employed the worker, and they believe there are other victims or witnesses who have yet to speak to investigators.

'Prominent' person in B.C. wine industry under investigation for sex assault: RCMP

One dead, 11 injured after tour bus from Montreal crashes in New York state

One dead, 11 injured after tour bus from Montreal crashes in New York state
New York State Police are reporting that one person is dead and 11 people are injured after a bus coming from Montreal crashed on Interstate Highway 87 in Lake George, N.Y. Police say that in addition to the death, one passenger suffered serious injuries and 10 people were left with minor injuries after a Skyway Coach Line tour bus crashed at around 12:50 p.m. today.

One dead, 11 injured after tour bus from Montreal crashes in New York state

Move to allow Canadian drugs to be imported by U.S. creates shortage fears

Move to allow Canadian drugs to be imported by U.S. creates shortage fears
A major shift in United States pharmaceutical policy allowing for the importation of drugs from Canada is creating fears about future drug shortages in this country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans Friday to allow Florida to import millions of dollars worth of pharmaceuticals from Canadian wholesalers as a way to avoid the high cost of drugs in that country.

Move to allow Canadian drugs to be imported by U.S. creates shortage fears