Close X
Tuesday, October 15, 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

Pedestrian struck and killed in Vancouver

Pedestrian struck and killed in Vancouver
Police are investigating after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside today. Police say two cars collided at an intersection just before 11 this morning, and one of the cars jumped the curb and he the person on the sidewalk.  

Pedestrian struck and killed in Vancouver

Canada taking 'necessary time' to probe hospital blast in Gaza, says Trudeau

Canada taking 'necessary time' to probe hospital blast in Gaza, says Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that Canada is working with allies to determine "exactly what happened" in the blast at a hospital in Gaza City earlier this week that has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hamas war.  Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa that Canada is taking the "necessary time" to probe a blast that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says left hundreds dead. 

Canada taking 'necessary time' to probe hospital blast in Gaza, says Trudeau

Alberta court rejects challenge from law student to Oath of Allegiance to monarchy

Alberta court rejects challenge from law student to Oath of Allegiance to monarchy
Prabjot Singh Wirring had argued the portion of the oath mandated by the Legal Profession Act that includes pledging allegiance to the sovereign violates his Charter rights to religious freedom and equality. Wirring, who is an Amritkhari Sikh, said he is only allowed to pledge allegiance to a divine being in the Sikh tradition and not Queen Elizabeth, who was the reigning monarch at the time his suit was filed.   

Alberta court rejects challenge from law student to Oath of Allegiance to monarchy

ShakeOutBC earthquake drill

ShakeOutBC earthquake drill
Thousands of people across B-C dropped, covered and held on this morning -- as they took part in the annual ShakeOutBC earthquake drill. The event -- at 10:19 a-m -- simulates an earthquake response and is a key part of provincial efforts to raise awareness about what to do in the moments, hours and days after an earthquake strikes.

ShakeOutBC earthquake drill

Large number of Canadian diplomats left India overnight: Report

Large number of Canadian diplomats left India overnight: Report
A large number of Canadian diplomats have left India overnight, a media report said on Thursday. The departures followed two weeks of negotiations between India and Canada after India issued a demand for "parity" in the number of diplomats present in the two countries, CBC News reported, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

Large number of Canadian diplomats left India overnight: Report

'Thin line' between freedom of speech and 'freedom of hate,' says Israeli ambassador

'Thin line' between freedom of speech and 'freedom of hate,' says Israeli ambassador
Israel's envoy to Canada says it is important for democracies to assess when a line has been crossed between freedom of speech and what he calls "freedom of hate." Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, spoke generally about what he sees as a "thin line" between the two in an interview with The Canadian Press. 

'Thin line' between freedom of speech and 'freedom of hate,' says Israeli ambassador