Superior Court judge rejects request for an injunction involving McGill encampment
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The judge wrote that the student plaintiffs “have not personally been subjected to harassment (related to the encampment), violent acts, or threats directed at them, and their fears are for the most part subjective and based on isolated events.”
Published May 01, 2024 • Last updated 18 minutes ago • 4 minute read
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A Quebec Superior Court judge has rejected a request from two McGill University students who sought to have the protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampment set up over the weekend barred from being within 100 metres of any of the school’s buildings.
Justice Chantal Masse heard arguments on the matter Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse and she delivered her decision in writing on Wednesday. In the 10-page decision, she said there “was not a sufficient demonstration of urgency” in the request. She also noted that defence lawyers who opposed the request argued it was “abusive and sought to silence all discussion that doesn’t fit within a frame that is pro-Israeli.”
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“The evidence presented by the plaintiffs (the two students) is fragile considering their irreparable prejudice in connection with several elements of the order requested,” Masse added.
Lawyers who argued against the injunction on Tuesday said it would stifle freedom of expression in many locations across the city because of the amount of property owned by the university.
The students were not actually seeking to have the encampment dismantled. They were asking for a court order that would have banned, for a 10-day period, any form of protest within 100 metres of all of the 154 buildings owned by McGill University.
“I am not disappointed. This is not an emotional case,” Neil Oberman, the lawyer who represented the two students, told the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday. “This is a case about the facts, the law and about justice. Winning is not binary. Judgments are very nuanced.”
Oberman specifically referred to a part of Masse’s judgment where she called on people on both sides of the protest to use words carefully.
“It clearly was a message for the protesters and defendants. Words matter,” Oberman said. “The words that we use can incite people to violence or a perception of violence as well as antisemitism.”
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The lawyer said he will analyze the judgment with his clients to determine if they will seek an appeal.
“That’s not what I am focusing on now. I’m focusing on ensuring that what is going on (at McGill) has to be proper. McGill has to do something,” Oberman said.
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In an affidavit, one student wrote that he feared having to go to the university to take an exam on April 29 and to correct exams for a professor on May 3. He wrote that he feared being targeted by people sympathetic to the protest if he was identified as being Jewish.
The other student is a Muslim who became fearful once the encampment went up on Saturday because she experienced “racist harassment” on campus before. She wrote that she has friends who are Jewish and has been called a “Zionist” at McGill. She also wrote that she was criticized for bringing a specific brand of coffee cup to class and was characterized as someone “who likes killing children.”
The judge wrote that the plaintiffs “have not personally been subjected to harassment (related to the encampment), violent acts or threats directed at them, and their fears are for the most part subjective and based on isolated events.”
Masse also asked that the two sides on the issue talk together and be careful with the language they use during the protest. It was a reference to how, on Tuesday, Oberman said his clients were upset over how the word “intifada” has been heard and seen on posters at the encampment.
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Some people interpret the word intifada as a call for violence.
One of the lawyers who argued against the injunction said the word can be interpreted differently by people on either side of the issue, but it was here that Masse disagreed.
“I think it is important to point out that if someone wants to be listened to, really listened to, they should be careful with the words they use,” Masse said on Tuesday during the hearing.
“Words should be chosen with care.”
In Quebec City, Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry said the judge’s ruling changes nothing.
“You have to differentiate between the injunction sought by two students and McGill’s position,” Déry told reporters.
“It does not change anything from McGill’s position. You need to understand the injunction is one thing, McGill’s position is another thing. McGill’s stand is to say that this encampment is not authorized by the university and the SPVM has been called.”
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel’s take on the situation was similar.
“This legal stage does not change the fact that police forces have a role to play to ensure the security of the site,” Bonnardel said.
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“We have confidence in the judgment of police to ensure the security of students and the public.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she also trusts the city’s police force in handling the situation.
“I have full confidence that the police will act with diligence, with balance, to do it in a way that will be respectful of the people who are there and who are peaceful,” she said. “There will be no SWAT teams descending on peaceful protesters.”
Philip Authier of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report.
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