Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani believes that it is the responsibility of McGill University to “manage” the situation of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have been installed on its campus for several days.
With its land still occupied by activist camps on Tuesday, the university asked Montreal police to intervene on the scene, believing that its efforts to defuse the situation were not sufficient.
In the eyes of Minister Virani, who himself graduated from Montreal university, it is up to the university administration to “verify” whether criminal acts were committed by the demonstrators. The latter did not want to comment on whether the demonstrations went too far, or whether the call to police forces was justified.
“Freedom of expression has limits when we promote hatred or intimidation, destroy property or prevent other students from studying. It is up to them to check, not me,” commented Minister Virani on Tuesday morning, adding that universities are managed by the provinces.
“If it judges that any laws have been broken, the university should contact the police,” he added.
McGill, for his part, indicates that he has witnessed anti-Semitic behavior.
“We have seen evidence of appalling anti-Semitic rhetoric and behavior from some at the encampment, which now includes many people from outside McGill. We cannot tolerate this and we will not tolerate it,” university management said in a statement late Monday.
Called to react, Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc indicated that the federal government would not give directives to the police.
“The SPVM has a lot of experience. We have always said that the right to demonstrate is a fundamental right, but it must be done in an orderly manner. […] I have full confidence that the police will do the necessary work,” he said at the entrance to the cabinet in Ottawa on Tuesday.
The management explained that before calling the police, they followed their protocol by informing the participants that the setting up of the camp was not authorized and asking them to leave the premises, which still did not was done Tuesday morning.
A similar encampment was set up on the Point Gray campus of the University of British Columbia. For their part, the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa have both warned that setting up camps on their campuses would not be tolerated.
With The Canadian Press