McGill University is dismantling the pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on its downtown Montreal campus since April 27.
A private security firm hired by the university read an eviction notice to protesters early Wednesday.
Montreal’s riot squad had been on the scene as of 3 a.m., according to an unofficial source.
Advertisement 2
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.
Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.
Unlimited online access to the Montreal Gazette and National Post, including the New York Times Crossword, and 14 more news sites with one account
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.
Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.
Unlimited online access to the Montreal Gazette and National Post, including the New York Times Crossword, and 14 more news sites with one account
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
Enjoy additional articles per month.
Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
By 10 a.m., protesters were gathering up flags and personal belongings as employees of the private security firm, wearing yellow vests and hard hats, walked through the tent city and removed some of the fencing that has been in place since the encampment began. Some people walked in front of the encampment waving Palestinian flags.
An hour later, some of the fences had been removed and excavator trucks were clearing out the debris, loading it into two dump trucks parked on the campus.
Montreal police and SQ officers on Sherbrooke St. near the Roddick Gates held back a crowd of protesters who were pounding drums and chanting slogans calling for revolution. Some small excavator trucks were on the scene and one large excavator was parked behind the Roddick for several hours. Sherbrooke St. was closed between Peel and University Sts.
A spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante referred The Gazette to McGill University and the SPVM when asked for comment.
A spokesperson for Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel also declined to comment “for the moment.” Last week, Bonnardel made a post on X saying he was surprised Montreal hadn’t done more “on the issue of encampments” and that his position was clear: Political leaders should denounce the occupation of public land.
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
SPVM spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said at 10 a.m. that there has not been a need for police intervention so far, though two people were removed from the campus and escorted to a police squad car. It’s unclear whether they were taken into custody.
“At this point what I can tell you is that on the Montreal police department side, everything is going well outside the encampment and even in the encampment,” Brabant said.
Brabant said the force was informed by McGill University that it would be dismantling the encampment and that officers arrived at the scene just before 5 a.m. They were stationed off-campus on Sherbrooke St. to ensure “safety for everyone.”
Several businesses on Sherbrooke St., including a coffee shop and a restaurant, were closed.
All 24 Photos for Gallery
Function Not Available
Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.
You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.
Today’s One Read
Get the most interesting story of the day.
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Today’s One Read will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Article content
Advertisement 4
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Federation CJA praised McGill for taking measures to “prioritize the safety and well being of the university community and to end the toxicity, the hateful glorification of terrorism and the targeting of Jewish students on the campus.”
The university said it is proceeding with the dismantling because the encampment represented “profound health and safety risks that continue to grow in scope and severity” and contended that the university had been “subject to ongoing and escalating acts of violence and vandalism associated with the encampment, up to and including criminal acts on campus last weekend.”
McGill president Deep Saini said in a statement that the dismantling of the encampment was taking place “in close collaboration with the city of Montreal and police … (and) the engagement of a qualified security firm.”
Saini repeated the university’s position that it supported “the right to free expression and assembly, within the bounds of the laws and policies that keep us all safe.”
“However, recent events go far beyond peaceful protest and have inhibited the respectful exchange of views and ideas that is so essential to the university’s mission and to our sense of community.”
Advertisement 5
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Saini accused “people linked to the camp” of having “harassed our community members, engaged in antisemitic intimidation, damaged and destroyed McGill property, forcefully occupied a building, clashed with police and committed acts of assault.
“They also hosted a ‘revolutionary youth summer program’ advertised with images of masked individuals holding assault rifles. The risks emanating from the camp have been escalating, steadily and dangerously.”
Saini said the university was acting because city of Montreal fire inspectors “had long been denied access to the camp. Given the growing risks and the impossibility of knowing what was happening inside, the university engaged a firm to investigate the activities within the encampment. What they found led the university to determine that the need for the camp’s dismantlement was urgent.”
The university president claims few people from the McGill community are in the encampment, saying most protesters are activists from external groups and that unhoused people are also using the camp. He claimed there has been drug use and said the camp is infested with rats.
Advertisement 6
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“This camp was not a peaceful protest,” Saini wrote. “It was a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community.”
Some protesters had left the grounds in the early morning, but only to form protest demonstrations on nearby streets. Montreal police on foot, bicycle and horseback were on the scene in what the police department described as a supporting role.
Wednesday’s dismantling operation comes less than 12 hours after about a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a meeting of the Ville-Marie borough council. Mayor Valérie Plante and her fellow councillors were taken out of the meeting as a precaution. There were no arrests reported in connection with that incident.
Protesters have demanded that McGill end its investments in businesses that profited from Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip as well as end all affiliations with Israeli universities.
Two attempts to obtain injunctions forcing the dismantling of the encampment were rejected by Quebec Superior Court.
Advertisement 7
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Other protest encampments in Quebec were dismantled after agreements were reached with the universities involved. Last week, a protest encampment erected on public property in Victoria Square was dismantled by Montreal police.
Article content Lawyers representing billionaire Robert Miller while he faces criminal charges alleging he sexually exploited girls plan to argue that he is too sick […]
Breadcrumb Trail Links Local News The city’s opposition decries a lack of planning for the area around the Royalmount mall and elsewhere along the Décarie. […]