McGill University announced Friday afternoon it is moving to the next stage of its injunction request against the pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up on its downtown campus three weeks ago.
The university released a statement at 4 p.m., two days after Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc St-Pierre rejected a provisional injunction request to have the camp dismantled. St-Pierre wrote in his decision that the school had failed to demonstrate an urgent need to dismantle the camp.
Today, McGill said it was moving forward with a request for an interlocutory injunction, the next stage as it seeks to have the encampment permanently banned.
McGill is seeking an injunction to have the protesters barred from “camping or occupying in any manner whatsoever” as well as from protesting in any way that is in violation of university policy on its downtown campus.
The order would also authorize bailiffs tasked with serving the judgment to “call upon any peace officer to assist them.”
Montreal’s police service has so far taken a passive approach to the encampment, even testifying before St-Pierre Monday that it preferred a peaceful conclusion to the protest.
The school has said the encampment has made a number of Jewish students feel unsafe, has caused confrontations between campers and counter-protesters and could be unsanitary and a fire hazard.
As pro-Palestinian encampments pop up on university campuses across Canada, there’s a renewed focus on freedom of expression.
In a statement Friday, McGill said it had been open to dialogue with the campers and had met with them six times between May 3 and May 10 in hopes of coming to an agreement that would end their presence on campus.
“McGill’s request for a provisional injunction did not seek to stop protests on its campus; it sought to stop an indefinite occupation of its property,” the statement said.
It is unclear what the university offered the student activists in the meetings, but the talks do not appear to have been fruitful. Activists have said they would not be leaving until the university agrees to their demands.
The encampment has been in place since April 27, when roughly 20 tents sprung up on the field near McGill’s Roddick Gates. There now appears to be several dozen tents inside a large area encircled by temporary fencing that is covered with handmade signs. The student protesters have been asking McGill to divest from companies with ties to Israel and cut ties with Israeli academic institutions.
McGill’s lawyers argued the school could not enjoy the free use of its private property as a result of the protest, specifically for its annual convocation ceremonies. But they also acknowledged the university had already found an alternate venue for the event at a cost of $700,000.
Friday, McGill said it would be holding convocation at the Bell Centre, Montreal’s downtown stadium where the Montreal Canadiens National Hockey League team plays, from May 28 to June 5.