Montreal
McGill University has withdrawn its injunction request against pro-Palestinian groups that had for months camped on its downtown campus, CBC News has learned.
Encampment on downtown Montreal campus was dismantled July 10
Verity Stevenson · CBC News
· Posted: Jul 25, 2024 1:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
The months-long encampment had at times seen counter-protests, like this group of pro-Israel protesters seen outside the Roddick Gates at the entrance of McGill University’s downtown Montreal campus, on May 5. (Verity Stevenson/CBC)
McGill University has withdrawn its injunction request against pro-Palestinian groups, CBC News has learned.
The request sought a court order to remove an encampment on its downtown campus in Montreal.
Earlier this month, the university hired a private security firm to evict the protesters anyway.
A case management hearing was scheduled Thursday morning at the Montreal courthouse, but McGill’s lawyers were not present.
The proceeding was suspended and court documents filed shortly afterward by the law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, which has been representing McGill, provided notice to the court about the withdrawal.
Two people involved in the case also said the university does not intend to set a new court date.
McGill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
University sought to have encampment banned
The university made the request May 15, roughly three weeks after a pro-Palestinian encampment was set up on the lower lawn of its downtown campus and after another injunction request filed on behalf of two McGill students had been rejected.
After McGill’s provisional injunction request was also rejected, the university announced it would be moving forward with a request for an interlocutory injunction, the next stage as it sought to have the encampment permanently banned.
WATCH | Who has the right to occupy campus space?:
Was it legal for McGill to take down the pro-Palestinian encampment?
While McGill argues it had a right to remove protesters and their belongings from its private property after a 10-week encampment, some legal experts argue it’s not that simple.
The school wanted to have 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 have authorized bailiffs tasked with serving the judgment to “call upon any peace officer to assist them.”
The court documents filed Thursday withdrawing the request as a whole were brief and provided no reason for the withdrawal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Verity is a reporter for CBC in Montreal. She previously worked for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Telegraph-Journal and the Sherbrooke Record. She’s originally from the Eastern Townships and has gone to school both in French and English.
With files from Rowan Kennedy
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