The Premier of Quebec reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled, while the police remain “on the lookout for developments in the situation.”
Passing through his constituency of L’Assomption on Friday morning, François Legault once again requested that “the illegal encampment” on the university campus be dismantled, even though the Superior Court of Quebec on Wednesday rejected a request for an injunction to move the camp erected since Saturday.
“There are all kinds of very legal ways to demonstrate”, but “to set up a camp on the grounds of a university which does not want this camp, it is illegal”, argued the Prime Minister, adding that he “counts on the police to dismantle the way they think is best, then at the time they think is best.” The prime minister made the same request on Thursday, 48 hours after university leaders requested police assistance, saying they had failed to persuade protesters to end what they called illegal action. .
At the same time in Montreal, the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, declared that he had “total confidence in the SPVM for the future” and for the “operations that they will carry out to dismantle this”.
“A dangerous precedent”
Also Friday morning, the Quebec Federation of University Professors (FQPPU) published a press release in which it said it was “concerned by the recent comments” of the Prime Minister.
“University campuses have always been places where ideas confront each other, sometimes vigorously,” declared Professor Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the FQPPU.
“In a free and democratic society, it is not up to political power to give orders to the police on operational questions” and “that the Prime Minister attacks the freedom of expression of demonstrators by calling for an intervention by the police against them constitutes a dangerous and worrying precedent,” added the president of the FQPPU.
The police assess the situation
For its part, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) published a press release in which it wrote that it had taken note of the decision rendered by the court to reject the request for a provisional injunction from two McGill students, due to of “the absence of demonstration of an emergency”. The SPVM indicated that it will closely follow “the legal debates surrounding this dispute” and will remain on the lookout for developments in the situation.
“Let us remember that the role of police officers in such a situation is to ensure peace, good order, the safety of people, while respecting rights and freedoms,” wrote the police force.
On Thursday, Federal Minister of Justice Arif Virani rebuked Prime Minister Legault about his position. “The operational decisions of the police are always their decisions independently of politicians. This is always the case in a democracy like ours. […] It separates us from other countries where we do not respect the rule of law, so it is extremely important,” he said upon his arrival at the Canadian parliament.
Protesters are demanding that McGill, as well as nearby Concordia University, cut financial ties with companies they say are “profiting from the genocide” in Gaza. They also want the university to cut all ties with certain Israeli institutions.