There are other ways to make one’s discontent known than setting up tents on university campuses, believes the Minister of Higher Education, who “is appealing for calm” to the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“We are monitoring the situation closely on the Sherbrooke side, on the UQAM side. It is an extremely complex issue, the situation has been quite tense in Montreal and elsewhere in Quebec in recent months,” declared Minister Déry on the sidelines of a press conference held in Montreal.
On Wednesday, the Superior Court rejected McGill University’s request for an interlocutory injunction aimed at dismantling the encampment established on campus.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The camp on the grounds of McGill University.
This is the second such request to be rejected by the court. In his decision rendered Wednesday, Judge Marc St-Pierre believes that the university failed to demonstrate the urgency of intervening.
The demonstrators are demanding that their administration cut all educational and financial ties with Israel and intend to stay until they have a satisfactory response to their demands.
Minister Déry, for her part, reiterates that university lands are “private” and that the camps must be dismantled.
“It’s not easy for establishments, for rectors, for authorities to manage all that. The government’s position has not changed: these camps have no place. I think there is a way to demonstrate, this place is perhaps not appropriate to express ourselves on these issues,” added the minister.
In Montreal, in addition to the McGill University camp, set up two weeks ago, a camp was established on the lawn of the Pierre-Dansereau Science Complex at UQAM.
With Léa Carrier, The Press