Since Monday, students have been camping within the walls of the University of Montreal (UdeM), some launching a hunger strike, in order to pressure management to eliminate its investments in fossil fuels. And after three days of occupation, they may have won their case.
Posted at 6:04 p.m.
Monday morning, about thirty students set up their tents and hung their signs in the hall of the Roger-Gaudry pavilion, which they have occupied since. Two activists have also started a hunger strike, demanding a total withdrawal of UdeM’s investments in fossil fuels by 2025.
“It’s a shame we have to go there. We are supposed to be listened to, not deprive ourselves of a need to send a message, ”laments Catherine Ouellette-Marrero, whose last meal dates back more than 48 hours.
On the phone, she takes over from Vincent Vaslin, too tired to conduct the interview alone. The student has been fasting for more than 60 hours. “I’m ready to go where it’s needed. If you want to know when I’m going to stop, ask the university, ”he says, in a convinced tone.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Two hunger strikers, Catherine Ouellette-Marrero and Vincent Vaslin.
Five UdeM student associations are also on strike for divestment in fossil fuels, and 28 others have adopted a resolution to this effect. A petition signed nearly 4,400 times and supported by the Union of Professors of the University of Montreal is also circulating.
The rector commits by 2025
After three days of occupation, the demonstrators may have won their case. The rector of UdeM, Daniel Jutras, has undertaken to present, by next June, one or more scenarios for the total divestment of fossil fuels with a target of 2025.
In 2020, these actions totaled $98.2 million. Before being adopted, the disinvestment plan must be evaluated and approved by university authorities.
UdeM would thus follow in the footsteps of the University of Quebec in Montreal and Concordia, which have both already made a commitment to get out of oil.
“Although I deplore the use of actions taking the form of an occupation of a university space or a hunger strike, I recognize the leadership of the student movement in the implementation of responsible investment policies in the university context. “, said Mr. Jutras, in a letter addressed to the demonstrators and obtained by The Press.
But before declaring victory and packing up, activists want to take the time to assess the rector’s response.
By email, management says “continue to discuss with them with respect” and wishes to “keep all communication channels open. It respects the right of students to demonstrate, as long as it is exercised calmly, serenely and without violence ”, and in compliance with health rules.