Wednesday, July 8, 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

Criminal charges likely after police dog bites Indo-Canadian off-duty cop

Criminal charges likely after police dog bites Indo-Canadian off-duty cop
Manjinder Singh Kaila, 55, was bitten by a police dog on May 29, 2021, next to his Surrey home, as the cops pursued a suspect, despite the victim yelling “it wasn’t me". The statement of claim named constables Sarbjeet Singh and Paul Baker, who were working with RCMP dog service at that time.

Criminal charges likely after police dog bites Indo-Canadian off-duty cop

Jobless rate went up in June

Jobless rate went up in June
R-B-C assistant chief economist Nathan Janzen says the reason the unemployment rate can rise alongside historically strong employment growth is that population growth continues to set new records, including an increase of 84-thousand people in June.

Jobless rate went up in June

Lack of staff forces Saanich hospital to close ER overnight for two months

Lack of staff forces Saanich hospital to close ER overnight for two months
Island Health says a lack of staff has forced it to begin overnight closures of the emergency room at a small Victoria-area hospital. A statement from the health authority says closure of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital emergency department begins at 10 p.m. tonight and will end at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Lack of staff forces Saanich hospital to close ER overnight for two months

BC Port strike now a week long

BC Port strike now a week long
The association says it has learned of the layoffs as well as cargo diversions as the labour dispute drags on, calling on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to enter a voluntary arbitration process to end the strike.  

BC Port strike now a week long

Airbnb wins Vancouver privacy ruling, as court quashes order to release host data

Airbnb wins Vancouver privacy ruling, as court quashes order to release host data
Justice Jasvinder Basran's ruling says the privacy commissioner must reconsider its findings after notifying Airbnb hosts about the potential release of the information.

Airbnb wins Vancouver privacy ruling, as court quashes order to release host data

Ministerial adviser, Gurveen Dhaliwal, won't be charged in election rule violation probe

Ministerial adviser, Gurveen Dhaliwal, won't be charged in election rule violation probe
The service had tapped a special prosecutor in May to give legal advice on the investigation of Gurveen Dhaliwal, who served as a trustee in New Westminster before being named as an adviser to Health Minister Adrian Dix on May 1. The investigation stemmed from Dhaliwal's presence as a scrutineer during the same election last November in which she was running for a second term.

Ministerial adviser, Gurveen Dhaliwal, won't be charged in election rule violation probe