Ministers Pascale Déry and François Bonnardel “played[é] a bit of a judge instead of a judge” by declaring Tuesday that the McGill University encampment was “illegal,” lamented solidarity MP Alexandre Leduc on Wednesday.
The two ministers did not wait Tuesday for the verdict of the Superior Court of Quebec on the legitimacy of the encampment in support of the people of Gaza. They immediately declared it “illegal”, saying they were relying on McGill’s opinion.
“I would say to the government of Quebec, which seems to want to play the role of judge instead of the judge, start by stopping the operation of the Quebec office in Tel Aviv. “It could perhaps send a signal of calm on the very hot issue of Gaza,” Alexandre Leduc suggested to them on Wednesday morning.
Elected officials from the Liberal Party of Quebec and the Parti Québécois also invited ministers to exercise caution. “We’re going to wait for the judge to decide,” said Jennifer Maccarone. “I won’t do it, [déclarer un campement illégal]. It is the judicial power which will decide this question,” also affirmed the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
A few hours later, Judge Chantal Masse of the Superior Court of Quebec rejected a request for an injunction filed by two McGill students to limit the space of the demonstration in support of the people of Gaza.
Joly hopes to see appeasement
In Ottawa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, avoided commenting on the call to police forces on the campus of McGill University. She said she is confident that progress in ceasefire discussions will help calm tensions on college campuses.
“We are going to put pressure on the different parties to reach a ceasefire. I was in contact with Anthony Blinken yesterday. The more we are able to stop the violence, the more we will be able to see a reduction in tensions here,” she said in a press scrum before the Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday morning.
Activists on campus said they do not intend to leave until the university ends all of its partnerships with companies that have contracts with the Israeli military.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was determined to secure a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas soon. An offer of a 40-day ceasefire, with the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages kidnapped on October 7, was made to Hamas at the start of the week.
Hamas has not yet given its response to the latest proposal. Since the start of the war, only one week-long truce has been established at the end of November.
“We think it is important that we can talk to different members of society in Israel, different members also within the Palestinian territories, and that is what I will continue to do,” said Minister Joly, adding that there was “no love” between the Trudeau government and the Netanyahu government.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, of Jewish faith, described the camps at McGill as “inappropriate”. “These are not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
The administration said in a statement released Monday that it had “viewed video evidence of individuals exhibiting intimidating behavior and making blatantly anti-Semitic remarks.”
More details will follow.