Close X
Monday, October 14, 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

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh blasts Trudeau, Poilievre at B.C. convention

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh blasts Trudeau, Poilievre at B.C. convention
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has lost touch with the struggles of Canadians, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre only pretends to care about regular people, federal New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh said Sunday. Singh took political swings at his two leadership counterparts during a speech to more than 700 delegates attending the British Columbia NDP convention.  

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh blasts Trudeau, Poilievre at B.C. convention

Some nurse practitioners in Canada not being paid for administering MAID

Some nurse practitioners in Canada not being paid for administering MAID
She has a full-time nursing job and a side gig offering virtual care, and in the evenings and on weekends, assesses patients for medical assistance in dying — known as MAID — and delivers the procedure. Like many provinces, Ontario does not have a mechanism for nurse practitioners to take on independent work and be paid for it, like a fee-for-service structure often in place for doctors.  

Some nurse practitioners in Canada not being paid for administering MAID

No word on status of 135 Canadians cleared to leave Gaza Strip over weekend

No word on status of 135 Canadians cleared to leave Gaza Strip over weekend
Meanwhile, Canadians with loved ones trapped in Gaza are still waiting to learn whether anyone connected to Canada was able to make the journey into Egypt via the Rafah land crossing over the weekend.

No word on status of 135 Canadians cleared to leave Gaza Strip over weekend

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior
Environment Canada is warning of strong winds in Victoria and along the west coast of Vancouver Island, while southeastern B.C. could see freezing rain. The weather office says winds blowing 80 kilometres an hour with gusts up to 100 are forecast to persist on parts of the island until some time Sunday morning.  

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says
Canada's Transportation Safety Board says it is sending an investigator to probe a train collision and derailment in Metro Vancouver, while a spokesperson for the company says no one was injured and there's no threat to the public. A statement from the board says the incident involved two trains operated by Texas-headquartered BNSF Railway at a subdivision in New Westminster, B.C.

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek
Mounties in northeastern British Columbia say one man is dead after exchanging gunfire with police and barricading himself inside an apartment overnight. Officers found the man dead of what the RCMP say are believed to have been self-inflicted injuries the next morning, and B.C.'s police watchdog has been notified.

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek