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

Busy Canada Day weekend for Prince George RCMP

Busy Canada Day weekend for Prince George RCMP
A statement from the detachment says officers were called to everything from robberies and attempted robberies to the torching of a vehicle -- possibly by a suspect already wanted on two other warrants.

Busy Canada Day weekend for Prince George RCMP

"A preoccupation with failure." Why the Titan submersible was doomed from the start

Jack Rozdilsky, a professor at York University in Toronto,  says OceanGate's business — ferrying paying passengers to the floor of the North Atlantic — could be compared to the immensely risky work of companies that launch space flights, drill for offshore oil, fight wildfires or operate nuclear power plants.

"A preoccupation with failure." Why the Titan submersible was doomed from the start

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable
The poster is the latest in a string of problems in recent weeks that have increased tension between Ottawa and New Delhi over Sikh separatists in Canada. A poster for the event circulating on social media includes photos of India's top two diplomats in Canada — High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto Consul General Apoorva Srivastava — and refers to them as "the faces of Niijar's killers in Toronto."

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to Europe next week for the annual NATO leaders' summit. The two-day summit in Lithuania starts July 11 and comes as the alliance has agreed to extend the term of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by another year.  

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled
One of the students, speaking anonymously, stated, "On July 1, around 9 p.m., we received an email from Air India informing us of a five-hour delay, and the new departure time was set for 2.45 p.m. However, when we arrived at the airport, we discovered that the flight had been delayed for an additional hour."

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.
The single-storey complex has been heavily damaged, prompting the owner of the Okanagan Eatery, one of the affected businesses, to post a photo of the flames online, writing, "Wow, no words. Guess that's it."

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.