Saturday, July 4, 2026
ADVT 
National

Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantle UBC camp

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Jul, 2024 05:10 PM
  • Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantle UBC camp

A pro-Palestinian protest camp that had occupied a sports field at the University of British Columbia's Vancouver campus for more than two months has been dismantled by the demonstrators.

Dozens of tents had been removed by Monday, although barricades and fencing around the site remain in place.

A statement from UBC says "protesters decamped from MacInnes Field" adjacent to the school's transit loop and student union building on Sunday, but did not elaborate. 

A spokeswoman for the protest camp confirmed in a text message that it had closed.

A UBC security guard at MacInnes Field who declined to be named said the protesters vacated the site without giving any notice on Sunday evening.

Guards were patrolling the area Monday to prevent unauthorized people from entering the field while they waited for cleanup crews to arrive.

On Friday, more than 35 tents and a small handful of people were visible at the site that had been occupied since late April by protesters demanding that UBC end any financial or academic ties with Israeli companies or institutions.

A spokeswoman for Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., said it had no update on a protest camp there. The University of Victoria did not respond to requests for updates on an encampment at its campus.

The low-key closure of the UBC camp came after another protest site at the University of Toronto was vacated last week. That came after a judge ruled in favour of an injunction sought by the school to clear the camp.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen ruled the encampment took away the school’s ability to control what happened on its properties. The result, Koehnen said, amounted to irreparable harm.

"In our society, we have decided that the owner of property generally gets to decide what happens on the property," Koehnen’s decision said.

University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist had said the Ontario decision could act as a road map for other schools looking to remove protest camps. He said its reliance on property law meant schools could issue trespass notices to protesters before starting the legal process of clearing them out.

Protesters at several Canadian schools including UBC issued a joint statement on social media last week calling the Ontario decision "shameful" for prioritizing property ownership over students' rights.

The statement said protesters would "continue to act on our campuses and apply pressure to our universities through every possible avenue."

The UBC camp once included about 75 tents and was bustling with music and activity, but at one point on Friday only three people could be seen inside the fenced zone.

Vancouver Island University had said in a statement last week after the Ontario court decision that it was "exploring similar legal avenues taken by other institutions."

The school said about 25 protesters occupied a school building in late June and disrupted an exam, while another building was vandalized over the Canada Day long weekend.

Vancouver Island University said its settlement proposal to the protesters had been rejected, and the escalation of disruptions on campus shows "encampment participants are unwilling to engage in good-faith dialogue."

MORE National ARTICLES

19-year-old clocked going 199 km on North Van highway

19-year-old clocked going 199 km on North Van highway
R-C-M-P in North Vancouver say a lead-footed driver with a learners licence is a lot poorer -- and less mobile -- today after making a bad choice on Friday night. Mounties say the 19-year-old was clocked doing 199 kilometres per hour in an 80-kilometre per hour zone along the Upper Levels Highway through North Van.

19-year-old clocked going 199 km on North Van highway

Interest rates to stay high

Interest rates to stay high
Experts are warning the next few years will likely see sharp mortgage payment increases amid expectations that interest rates will stay higher for longer. Variable rate mortgage holders have already seen their payments surge by more than 49 per cent on average, according to Bank of Canada data, but many fixed rate holders still haven't felt the sharp rise in rates.

Interest rates to stay high

Who will become Manitoba's next premier? A look at party leaders vying for the job

Who will become Manitoba's next premier? A look at party leaders vying for the job
Manitoba's provincial election is to take place Tuesday. Here's a look at the leaders of the province's three parties that have seats in the legislature. 

Who will become Manitoba's next premier? A look at party leaders vying for the job

Diwali fireworks advisory issued despite warnings it might be discriminatory: emails

Diwali fireworks advisory issued despite warnings it might be discriminatory: emails
An Environment Canada advisory that singled out Diwali fireworks as a reason to prepare for poor air quality last October was issued despite multiple warnings from some staff about it being discriminatory. The advisory was edited and an apology issued within hours as complaints poured in to the national weather service the morning the annual Indian festival of lights was set to begin.

Diwali fireworks advisory issued despite warnings it might be discriminatory: emails

RCMP confirm Indigenous teen missing in Williams Lake has been found safe

RCMP confirm Indigenous teen missing in Williams Lake has been found safe
RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark says the 13-year-old is safe. He did not say where she was found. An earlier release from the Williams Lake detachment said she was not believed to have left the Cariboo city.

RCMP confirm Indigenous teen missing in Williams Lake has been found safe

Fire in Vancouver's Kerrisdale neighbourhood destroys or damages five businesses

Fire in Vancouver's Kerrisdale neighbourhood destroys or damages five businesses
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Chief Karen Fry says in a social media post that flames broke out before midnight Sunday prompting a three-alarm response to the large fire. The blaze involved five shops on 41st Avenue between Maple Street and East Boulevard, including two restaurants, a bakery, a yogurt shop and a vegetable market.  

Fire in Vancouver's Kerrisdale neighbourhood destroys or damages five businesses