Live updates: McGill says machinery needed to remove human waste, rats, garbage at encampment

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Updated throughout the day on Wednesday, July 10. Questions/comments: ariga@postmedia.com

Latest updates

• ‘McGill willing to brutalize own students rather than to stop investing in genocide,’ activists say
• Machinery needed to remove human waste, rat infestation and rotting garbage: McGill
• Video: Heavy rain is not deterring pro-Palestinian protesters
• Workers are using excavators to clear out encampment
• Removal of the camp is ‘tragic,’ Concordia professor says
• Universities minister supports McGill’s decision
• Dismantlement ‘a great first step,” pro-Israel student says
• Private security firm’s investigation led to today’s operation, McGill says
• Video: Private security firm removes encampment
• Movement ‘will not end with the encampments,’ pro-Palestinian activist says
• Photo gallery: Police target McGill encampment
• McGill says illegal drugs were being sold at encampment
• University says removal of the camp is ‘proceeding peacefully’
• Operation comes amid Montreal rainfall warning
• Camp occupants seen gathering their belongings
• Operation condemned by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
• Bloc Québécois, Montreal opposition leader back dismantlement
• Jewish groups welcome the camp’s removal
• Pro-Palestinian groups urge followers to go to McGill’s Roddick Gates
• McGill statement: Encampment is ‘magnet for violence and intimidation,’ McGill says
• Dismantlement comes after violent protest, sparring between McGill and Plante

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1:55 p.m.

‘McGill willing to brutalize their own students rather than to stop investing in genocide,’ activists say

A representative of the encampment made the following statement to reporters earlier today:

“This morning, at 4:30 a.m., McGill administration hired private security named Sirco to forcibly dismantle the student encampment.

“The administration has shown that they were never committed to getting a peaceful end to this encampment. Shame. We, the students who had set up the encampment, have made it clear from its first day of inception, that we are willing to pack up and go home so long as the university commits to divesting from companies complicit in war and genocide.

“McGill University invests approximately $9 million in weapons-related companies. Companies that manufacture missiles, jets, drones and surveillance systems that are used daily to target and massacre Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the occupied territories.

“These companies include Airbus Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Tails Group, Bay Systems, Saffron Group, and MTU Aero Engines. Additionally, McGill University even conducts its own military research through Shockwave Physics Group and (a company) funded by Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter.

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“Instead of moving money from companies that are actively facilitating war, occupation and genocide, the administration has taken every drastic measure to repress the movement for liberation. Since the beginning of this encampment, the administration has spent thousands of dollars in moving the convocation location from the lower field to another location. They have cut off all electricity from the campus at night, leaving campers vulnerable to Zionist attacks.

“They have dragged their own students in legal battles that have failed. They have defamed the character of the encampment despite confirmation from the Montreal mayor and the SPVM that this encampment is peaceful.

“They have abruptly put an end to negotiations with students, and now they have hired their own private security to assault and forcibly remove its own students from the camp.

“They have pursued all these measures instead of divesting from companies that are explicitly and openly complicit in genocide.

“We have to ask ourselves: Why is the administration more committed to maintaining its ties with these companies than they are to reaching a peaceful end to the encampment? Why are they willing to brutalize their own students rather than to stop investing in genocide?

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“Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante even urged the administration to pursue a peaceful end to this encampment, which can only be done through a material commitment of divestment.

“They have now operated outside of the legal framework and hired private mercenaries to forcibly dismantle the camp and to brutalize students on their own campus.

“The administration has been actively leading a defamation campaign against its own students and community, people who have braved thunderstorms, electricity cut-off and intimidation tactics because they are appalled at their university’s complicity in this genocide.

“In their statements, McGill mischaracterizes the camp and has utilized photos of syringes that are present on the public street of Sherbrooke and pretended that it was inside the camp.

“As for the future of the movement, we want to make it clear that these encampments have sprouted across multiple countries and continents seven months into the genocide. Time is not a factor for those of us who fight for liberation.

“To all those of you who have shown up for weeks in the rain and in storms, do not be discouraged. The movement for Palestine has never been as coordinated and powerful as it is now and it will continue to pursue our demands until justice prevails and until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.”

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1:50 p.m.

Machinery needed to remove human waste, rat infestation and rotting garbage: McGill

“The dismantlement of the encampment is proceeding as planned, and largely complete.

“Due to the presence of human waste, a rat infestation, discarded syringes, a large amount of rotting food and garbage, and other potentially dangerous and unsanitary conditions within the site, it was necessary to use heavy machinery to remove parts of the camp for the safety of all involved.

“For the same reasons, it will be necessary to excavate and replace a layer of contaminated soil on the site.

“The downtown campus (including all McGill buildings, outdoor areas, rented properties, etc.) remains closed today and this evening.”

1:45 p.m.

Sherbrooke reopens to traffic

Harry North reports that, as of 1:40 p.m., half a dozen protesters remained outside McGill’s downtown campus but had stopped chanting.

The line of police, who were previously blocking the protesters on Sherbrooke St. also moved to one side.

A heavy police presence remains outside McGill.

Sherbrooke reopened to traffic after being closed since early this morning.

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1:30 p.m.

Video: Heavy rain is not deterring pro-Palestinian protesters

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1:25 p.m.

Workers are using excavators to clear out encampment

From colleague Jason Magder:

Most protesters have cleared out of McGill’s downtown campus. The police presence is thinning out.

Several dump trucks have taken debris away from McGill as workers continue to use excavators to dig up what’s left of the encampment.

1:15 p.m.

‘The fight persists,’ camp supporter says

Speaking to reporters, Félix Burt, 20, said he found it sad to see everything built at the encampment over the past two and a half months dismantled. Burt described himself as a civilian supporter of the encampment. He is not a McGill student.

“We put so much work into this,” he said.

“We had a garden. I had an aerospace engineer help me set up solar panels. We put a lot of thought and work into this place so we could stay and keep fighting.”

Burt said protesters were made aware that there would probably be an intervention ahead of time Wednesday morning.

Still, he maintained that the dismantlement was surprising since Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante had made a distinction between the McGill encampment and the downtown Square Victoria encampment last week when the latter was taken down.

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The city was able to intervene at Victoria Square because it’s a public space and the protesters were contravening regulations regarding public security, Plante said at the time. She said the city could not intervene at McGill because it’s private property.

Burt said protesters plan to keep up their efforts — whether they return to McGill or not.

“As long as the people in Palestine are resisting we have no reason to stop,” he said.

“They’re going through hell on earth. Nothing we could live through here could possibly compare. So whether we come back to McGill or not, I’m not sure to be honest … but the fight persists and there are many other things to do, many other things planned.”

1:10 p.m.

Removal of the camp is ‘tragic,’ Concordia professor says 

Concordia University associate professor Ted Rutland, who was one of roughly 40 teachers who had been helping out at the encampment since it began, called the dismantling “tragic.”

“It’s saddening and it’s enraging. McGill has never wanted to negotiate with the students. They called the police right from the get-go.

“When the police wouldn’t intervene they called the courts. When the courts wouldn’t force the police to intervene, finally they made an arrangement here where the Montreal police and the SQ are enabling this operation, but where it’s a private security firm, paid for out of McGill student tuition that is dismantling the camp and bulldozing people’s tents.”

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Rutland said “it looks very bad for McGill that they are so insistent on maintaining their investment in weapons companies and Israeli companies that are profiting from the genocide, rather than withdrawing those investments.”

The university should have divested from this companies, as the encampment protesters were demanding, he said, arguing that it has divested in the past in companies linked to South Africa and Burma, for instance.

“I never heard (McGill president) Deep Saini explain why a university needs to be invested in weapons companies,” he said.

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1 p.m.

Universities minister supports McGill’s decision

Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry has welcomed McGill’s decision, La Presse Canadienne reports.

“We’ve gone way beyond the usual freedom of expression so I think it’s a good thing we’re proceeding with the dismantling of this camp,” she told reporters.

“It was time to dismantle the camp. I support McGill in its efforts.”

She said “the situation has escalated over the last few days with acts of vandalism, antisemitic acts, vandalism and violence in the camp.”

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12:55 p.m.

Dismantlement ‘a great first step,” pro-Israel student says

From colleague René Bruemmer:

Raihaana Adira and a few pro-Israeli friends who attended the protests outside McGill University Wednesday morning got into a brief confrontation with pro-Palestinian protesters who came directly before them.

Adira and her friends refused to move.

Adira was one of the two McGill students who tried to obtain a court injunction against the protesters within days of the encampment’s erection. The request was rejected in the Quebec Superior Court.

“I think this is a great first step,” she said of the dismantlement.

“However, I fear there’s still going to be a lot of violence and antisemitism on campus.

“And I think that just because they take away the encampment does not mean that they’re taking the embedded hate against Jewish students at McGill away.”

McGill needs to keep having meetings with students “to repair the damages done on both sides,” she said.

“Hate has no place in Canada. This is ridiculous. Students should be able to go to campus and walk around and feel safe.

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“And unfortunately, over the last couple of months, we have not felt safe.”

12:50 p.m.

Private security firm’s investigation led to today’s operation, McGill says

Colleague Katelyn Thomas has an update from McGill’s administration.

The university has confirmed that it hired Sirco, a private security firm, to investigate the camp.

Here’s what McGill said:

“For two and a half months, the danger associated with the encampment has been steadily escalating.

“Last week, Montreal fire services again tried to access the site to inspect it and were denied twice.

“On July 5, a security guard was assaulted and the campus was again vandalized, with windows in multiple buildings broken.

“Given the escalations, the university engaged a firm to investigate the activities in the encampment.

“As detailed in the president’s message, we recently received information from the (security) firm that led the university to determine that the encampment needed to be dismantled urgently.”

12:35 p.m.

Video: Private security firm removes encampment

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12:30 p.m.

Protest on Sherbrooke continues amid downpour

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12:15 p.m.

Movement ‘will not end with the encampments,’ pro-Palestinian activist says

From Harry North, a freelancer helping cover the encampment for The Gazette:

Rain poured down at midday in downtown Montreal as supporters of the encampment gathered to protest the clearing of the camp, many bearing Palestinian flags. “Saini, Saini, you can’t hide,” they chanted, referring to university president Deep Saini.

Police maintained a large presence around McGill University, which remained closed off.

Police and private security arrived at the camp at around 4.30 a.m., said Zaina Karim, an encampment representative.

“People tried to remain at camp and they were forcefully escorted out even though they wanted to remain.”

The protesters were “prepared” for the encampment’s clearing, which came as “no surprise”, according to Karim.

“McGill has expressed since the beginning of the encampment that they do not agree with encampment. They’ve never had conversations in good faith with the students there. They’ve continuously called the police to brutalize their own students. So this comes as no surprise, so the students here were prepared for such an event.”

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Karim denied McGill’s claims that the camp was infested with rats and had visible unsanitary conditions, calling them “baseless” and part of McGill’s “smear campaign.”

Karim vowed this would not be the end of the movement but did not comment on whether the protesters would set up another encampment.

“This movement did not start with encampments and will not end with the encampments. The movement has been going on for almost two decades,” Karim said.

“Students are here. This is our campus. So student presence will always be here. So there will always be pressure, no matter what form it takes.”

11:25 a.m.

Photo gallery: Police target McGill encampment

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11:30 a.m.

Quebec civil liberties group condemns dismantlement

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11:15 a.m.

McGill says illegal drugs were being sold at encampment

In his statement this morning, McGill president Deep Saini said: “Two drug overdoses occurred in the camp since July 6. Syringes are visible, and illegal narcotics have been sold there.”

Photographer Allen McInnis took these photos of drug paraphernalia just outside the encampment on Saturday.

11 a.m.

McGill says removal of the camp is ‘proceeding peacefully’

On the university’s website, the McGill Emergency Operations Centre has posted these two updates:

Encampment dismantlement proceeding peacefully (10:07 a.m.)

Between 4:46 and 7:42 a.m., individuals in the encampment were advised three times that they would be escorted off campus if they did not leave of their own accord. Of the approximately 35 people at the site, almost all have chosen to leave.

Individuals were given the opportunity to remove their personal belongings as they departed.

The dismantlement process is currently proceeding peacefully. A careful search of the site is underway, to ensure that no other individuals or dangerous materials remain. Steel fencing encircling the site will now be removed. Montreal police are present to ensure the safety of all.

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The downtown Campus remains closed for the day.

Downtown Campus Closed: Please Avoid the Area (6:15 a.m.)

As members of the McGill community are aware, the University has 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.

The encampment is the site of profound health and safety risks that continue to grow in scope and severity. To protect the security of the McGill community and the integrity of our property, the encampment on the lower field of the downtown campus is being dismantled. Security personnel and Montreal police (SPVM) are on site.

As a result, McGill’s downtown campus is closed today, July 10, 2024. Everyone should stay away from the downtown campus. All events, summer programs and activities are cancelled for today.

We regret the considerable inconvenience that this necessary step will cause for many members of our community.

Please read the following information carefully:

• Students should not come to the downtown campus. Classes typically held on the downtown campus will move online for today. We ask instructors to please notify their students immediately.
• Libraries are closed.
• Faculty and staff who work on the downtown campus should stay home. Staff who can perform their duties remotely should work from home. Staff who cannot perform their duties remotely should stay home and will be paid as usual.
• We will be in contact with supervisors whose staff may need to be on campus for essential services. If you do not hear from your supervisor, please do not come to campus.
• Daycares on campus are closed.
• The campus is closed to the public.

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Again, we regret the disruption caused by this operation. We will continue to update this page as new information becomes available.

10:40 a.m.

Plante administration is not commenting

The Gazette has reached out to Mayor Valérie Plante’s office for comment.

A spokesperson referred all questions to the Montreal police department, colleague Katelyn Thomas reports.

A spokesperson for Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel also declined to comment “for the moment.”

Last week, Bonnardel said on social media: “I’m surprised we haven’t heard more from the City of Montreal on the issue of encampments. For our part, we have made our position clear from the outset. We’re starting to see the consequences of this passive approach. We expect all political leaders to denounce the outbursts and the occupation of public territory. ”

10:35 a.m.

Video: Security guards are dismantling camp

This video was posted by Savanna Craig of CUTV, which covers Concordia University and Montreal.

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10:20 a.m.

Operation comes amid Montreal rainfall warning

Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for Montreal.

The forecast says there’s a 100-per-cent chance of rain between noon today and 5 a.m. tomorrow.

“Rain, at times heavy, is expected.

“The remnants of tropical storm Beryl will affect Southern Quebec beginning today through Thursday. Rainfall amounts between 40 and 70 millimetres are expected as well as moderate winds. Rainfall amounts could locally exceed 100 millimetres in thunderstorms.

“Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.

“Rainfall warnings are issued when significant rainfall is expected.”

Read our full weather story.

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10:20 a.m.

Montreal police say they’re on stand-by

From The Gazette’s Katelyn Thomas.

At 10 a.m., Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said so far, there has not been a need for police to intervene.

“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,” he 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’re currently off-campus on Sherbrooke St. to ensure the “safety for everyone.”

10:20 a.m.

Camp occupants seen gathering their belongings

From The Gazette’s Jason Magder:

At 10 a.m., people in the encampment were seen gathering up flags and personal belongings, as agents with 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 on April 27.

Some people were seen walking in front of the encampment and waving Palestinian flags.

Montreal police and Sûreté du Québec officers were holding back a crowd of protesters pounding drums and chanting slogans calling for revolution on Sherbrooke St., about 100 metres east of the Roddick Gates.

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Some small excavator trucks were on the scene. A large excavator was parked near the Roddick Gates for several hours.

Sherbrooke St. was closed between Peel St. and University.

Montreal’s riot squad was on the scene as of 3 am, according to an unofficial source.

Several businesses on Sherbrooke including a coffee shop and a restaurant are closed.

10 a.m.

Some McGill operations have closed for the day

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9:50 a.m.

Provincial police are involved in today’s operation

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9:35 a.m.

Video: Workers drive dump truck, front-end loader onto campus

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9:25 a.m.

Some streets around McGill are closed to traffic

9:15 a.m.

Operation condemned by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

9:15 a.m.

Bloc Québécois, Montreal opposition leader back dismantlement

9 a.m.

Jewish groups welcome the camp’s removal

A joint statement published on social media by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Federation CJA:

“For months we have called out the hate antisemitism and escalating radical behaviour at McGill University’s encampment.

“Today, McGill is taking steps to prioritize the safety and well-being of its campus community, and an end to the ongoing toxicity, hate glorification of terrorism and targeting of Jewish students on campus. The encampment is currently being dismantled.”

8:55 a.m.

Operation began around 6 a.m.

From The Canadian Press:

Police, some dressed in riot gear, cordoned off streets leading to the site of the encampment at the university’s lower field, blocking access, while a crowd of demonstrators gathered by the police line.

The operation began at around 6 a.m.

“The students are steadfast in their struggle,” said Zeyad Abisaab, a Concordia student, who looked on from the street and said he had previously been part of a student-led Palestinian solidarity group.

A group of protesters stood in front of the encampment, facing construction equipment that has been brought in to remove them. Neither police, security agents nor construction workers had moved in on encampment as of about 8 a.m.

8:35 a.m.

Pro-Palestinian groups urge followers to go to McGill’s Roddick Gates

The McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and other groups that back the encampment are urging followers to descend on McGill this morning.

SPHR McGill has also posted videos of police officers on and around campus. In one message, the group said: “Student supporters and community members are currently being pushed further and further away from campus. Mobilize to the Roddick Gates. WE KEEP US SAFE.”

In another post, it highlighted a video showing a front-end loader and a dump truck on campus, with the words: “Security guards surround students and activists, threatening them with arbitrary charges of breaking and entering. Shame on Deep Saini and McGill University!”

The Roddick Gates are McGill main entrance – on Sherbooke St. and McGill-College Ave.

8:30 am.

Photos: Heavy police presence around McGill

Some photos, by Gazette photographer Pierre Obendrauf, show the heavy police presence around McGill. Officers are on foot, on bikes and on horseback. Some officers are in riot gear.

8:15 a.m.

McGill says it’s dismantling pro-Palestinian encampment

Early this morning, a private security firm hired by McGill read an eviction notice to the Pro-Palestinian protesters who have been occupying part of the downtown campus since April 27.

The 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.

Read our full story.

8:10 a.m.

Encampment is ‘magnet for violence and intimidation,’ McGill says

At 7:30 a.m., McGill president Deep Saini sent the following message to the university community:

Earlier today, in close collaboration with the City of Montreal and police, the university began the dismantlement of the encampment on the lower field of McGill’s downtown campus through the engagement of a qualified security firm. The downtown campus is closed today to protect the safety of our community.

While the situation is currently ongoing, I felt it important to provide you with an overview of the situation at hand, which has led to this morning’s developments. Please note that these efforts are being undertaken with extreme diligence while prioritizing the safety and well-being of all. That is why I ask you to follow the guidance of McGill’s Emergency Operations Centre, which is providing updates on this web page and through email, and to refrain from visiting campus today. Staff who provide essential services should remain home as well, unless called to campus by their supervisors.

McGill will always support 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.

People linked to the camp have 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.

Why we acted to dismantle the encampment

Montreal fire safety officials, police, and McGill staff 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.

• Few members of the McGill community are in the encampment: Most people are activists from external groups. One organizer of the encampment came to Montreal from outside the country shortly before tents were set up on April 27. Unhoused individuals now make up most of the few people who are sleeping in the camp overnight.
• There are significant health and safety risks: Two drug overdoses occurred in the camp since July 6. Syringes are visible, and illegal narcotics have been sold there. The camp is infested with rats. There are fire risks, including a propane canister and flammable materials next to the tents.
• The encampment is a magnet for violence and intimidation: The camp continues to attract protesters intent on violence, as the multiple incidents of vandalism on July 5 show. Certain people in the camp are planning to cause further damage to McGill, for example through vandalism.

This camp was not a peaceful protest. It was a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community.

Moving forward

These last few months have been extraordinarily difficult for our students, faculty and staff. The dismantling of the encampment is an important step in restoring our healthy campus climate, and renewing our focus on teaching, learning and research.

To be clear: this morning’s developments – and my longstanding insistence that the encampment must go – were not about limiting speech. They were about an illegal occupation that intimidated and endangered our community, violated our policies, caused serious property damage, created major health and safety risks, and fostered a steady escalation of violence.

Peaceful, legal expression will always be protected at McGill. And indeed, it is thriving. At symposia and student events, in classrooms, libraries, green spaces, and cafeterias, McGillians have engaged respectfully and responsibly with intractable issues – and with each other – for more than two centuries. I have every confidence that we will continue to do so.

As always, I undertake to keep the community apprised of any major developments as they occur.

Sincerely,

Deep Saini
President and Vice-Chancellor
McGill University

7 a.m.

Dismantlement comes after violent protest, sparring between McGill and Plante

Here are some of our recent stories about the camp:

‘This needs to stop’: McGill denounces vandalism, alleged assault on security guard

On Monday, with activists threatening further escalation, McGill University condemned a pro-Palestinian protest on Friday night that led to property damage, an alleged assault on a campus security guard and clashes with police. Read our full story.

Man arrested, McGill windows smashed during pro-Palestinian protest

Montreal riot police used chemical irritants to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters at McGill University on Friday night after some demonstrators smashed windows, police said. Read our full story.

Plante and McGill spar as Victoria Square encampment dismantled

McGill University has shown a lack of leadership and failed completely in its handling of the pro-Palestinian encampment that has resided on its campus for the past two and a half months, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante charged on Friday. Read our full story.

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ariga@postmedia.com

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