Close X
Wednesday, October 9, 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

Western Community Colleges launches new aviation training program at Abbotsford International Airport

Western Community Colleges launches new aviation training program at Abbotsford International Airport
Western Community College’s new aviation training programs such as the cabin crew program are IATA certified, while their commercial and private pilot licenses, and night rating programs are Transport Canada certified. WCC plans to introduce additional IATA certified airline operations training programs in the near future. WCC’s new aviation training programs will be located at the college’s new aviation wing at the Abbotsford International Airport. 

Western Community Colleges launches new aviation training program at Abbotsford International Airport

Shipping container stolen from Abbotsford

Shipping container stolen from Abbotsford
Police in Abbotsford say an elaborate operation would have been needed to steal a large shipping container from a rural property this week. The department says the 12-metre long container disappeared during daylight hours on Monday.

Shipping container stolen from Abbotsford

Joly urges halt to escalating violence as Israel suspected of airstrike on Iran

Joly urges halt to escalating violence as Israel suspected of airstrike on Iran
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is once again urging Israel and Iran to prevent their long-running conflict from spiralling into a broader Middle East crisis. She is calling for de-escalation and has co-signed a lengthy statement that touches on the Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian plight in Gaza and attacks on ships off the coast of Yemen.  

Joly urges halt to escalating violence as Israel suspected of airstrike on Iran

'No immediate risk' from 2.5-million-litre effluent spill from B.C. fibreboard plant

'No immediate risk' from 2.5-million-litre effluent spill from B.C. fibreboard plant
British Columbia's Environment Ministry says a 2.5-million-litre effluent spill from a fibreboard factory in Quesnel doesn't pose any immediate risk to public safety. It says in a statement that Monday's spill from the WestPine Medium-Density Fibreboard plant into a gravel pit has been assessed and no waterways have been affected.

'No immediate risk' from 2.5-million-litre effluent spill from B.C. fibreboard plant

Changes for short-term rentals as of May 1st

Changes for short-term rentals as of May 1st
The BC government says analysis of short-term rental data from March showed that more than 19-thousand entire homes in the province are listed for rent for most of the year.  That figure will change starting May 1st, when the new short-term rental rules kick in for more than 60 communities in B-C. 

Changes for short-term rentals as of May 1st

Labour leader urges unions to expose Poilievre's working-class overtures as 'fraud'

Labour leader urges unions to expose Poilievre's working-class overtures as 'fraud'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is a "fraud" for portraying himself as a friend of the working class, the head of the country's largest labour organization said Thursday, urging unions to do everything they can to expose him before the next federal election. Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske delivered her call to arms as union leaders gathered in Ottawa to plot strategy ahead of the vote, which must happen before October 2025. 

Labour leader urges unions to expose Poilievre's working-class overtures as 'fraud'