A Supreme Court of British Columbia justice in Vancouver issued an injunction to Vancouver Island University on Aug. 15 to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment, the last of its kind at a Canadian university, from its campus in Nanaimo within 72 hours, or by Aug, 18 at 9:30 a.m. PDT.
Jewish organizations were pleased by the decision from Justice Michael Stephens, which came several weeks after most university encampments in Canada had been dismantled following a July 2 ruling by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to grant the University of Toronto an injunction to remove an encampment.
Aron Csaplaros, B’nai Brith Canada’s regional manager for B.C., said, “Justice Stephens rightly stated – as B’nai Brith has been arguing since the beginning—that the right to protest on campus does not exist in a vacuum. Protesters’ rights to freedom of expression and protest must be balanced with the rights of VIU students, faculty, and staff to an environment free from harassment, intimidation and limitation of their use of VIU’s property.”
Bnai B’rith Canada was an intervenor in the case and the only one to advocate in court for issuing an injunction. Other intervenors included the BC Civil Liberties Association, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, the Jewish Faculty Network and the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
In addition to dismantling the encampment by this Sunday, Justice Stephens ordered the protesters, who have been a constant presence at VIU school since May 1, not to set up a similar encampment for at least the next 150 days. According to B’nai Brith, pro-Hamas symbols had been found at the encampment site, as had posters calling for violence.
Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of research and advocacy, said the encampments have no place at Canadian universities and that the organization will “continue to use every legal means at its disposal to defend the rights of Jewish students to learn in an environment that is free from harassment or discrimination.”
Meanwhile, Nico Slobinsky, the vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs for the Pacific Region, expressed his satisfaction via social media that the last remaining encampment in the country can now be legally removed.
For its part VIU said it hoped those in the encampment comply with the court order and vacate the campus ahead of the Sunday deadline. The school has requested the RCMP’s assistance to support VIU’s enforcement of the order if participants remain after the court-ordered time frame.
In a statement, the school added, “VIU remains dedicated to maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for all members of our community. While we respect and support the right to peaceful protest and diverse viewpoints, today’s court order ensures that the campus quad is returned to the entire community and prevents any individual group from occupying a shared space for extended periods of time to promote a single perspective.”
In remarks posted on social media following the court decision, a group called the VIU Palestine Solidarity Encampment said it would “remain steadfast in our commitment to the Palestinian cause, our demands, and our right to protest.”
The group noted that Justice Stephens did find some of VIU’s requests too broad, saying he “rejected VIU’s requests for a campus-wide curfew, a police enforcement order, and a court order to enforce VIU policies.”
“While we recognize that Canada and the Western world prioritize private property over Charter rights, it is truly disappointing to see that a University, who claims to support freedom of expression, goes to such lengths to restrict protests that do not align with their colonial criterias,” the protesters statement continued.
The court also ruled that the protesters would not have to pay damages, which were listed at $870,000, and it rejected VIU’s claim that the protest led to the resignation of university staff.
Although a curfew was not imposed, according to the court order, protesters cannot use or gather in the area of the encampment “without the consent or authorization of the University between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., except for persons attending at, or going to of from, residences on the University’s Nanaimo campus.”
The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), too, reacted with disappointment after the decision to grant an injunction. The organization argued that the law should bear in mind the results of an injunction on “fundamental Charter rights, specifically freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”
“Freedom of expression should be protected unless there is an exceptional justification for its restriction. Today, the court missed a critical opportunity to align the law with our Charter rights and values,” Ga Grant, BCLLA litigation staff counsel, said.
The court hearing met for three days, Aug. 8, 9 and 14.
VIU delivered a trespass notice on July 11 to the protesters with the request that they vacate and leave the university property by 8 a.m. on July 15. VIU then filed a notice of civil claim with the BC Supreme Court, beginning court action against the encampment.
During the more than 100-day-long protest at VIU, which extended at times beyond the encampment, protesters occupied a university building, interrupted an exam, damaged flags at VIU’s International Centre and the vandalized of the entry to VIU’s human resource office. In May, protesters forced the closure of the Starbucks located on campus.
At their height in mid-spring and early summer, encampments could be found at numerous universities and colleges across Canada, including the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.
In the aftermath of the July court decision in Ontario, encampments were vacated throughout the country, with the exception of VIU. The judge in the Ontario ruling stated that he owner of property, in that case, the University of Toronto, “generally gets to decide what happens on the property.”
Founded in 1969 under its former name, Malaspina College, then Malaspina-University College, VIU is currently the academic home to over 7,000 students.