McGill University says it is ending negotiations with pro-Palestinian activists who are occupying the lower field of its downtown Montreal campus. The university says in a statement today it will pursue disciplinary action against people participating in the encampment, which began in late April. McGill president Deep Saini says it has become clear that talks with the activists are going nowhere.
Saini says the university will still consider divesting from weapons manufacturers and disclosing more of its investments. The statement says the encampment has led to harassment and intimidation of students and faculty, and that the university will continue to request help from police. Related: On Monday, Montreal police said the encampment is a civil dispute and they don’t yet have a legal basis to intervene.
Inspector David Shane of the Montreal Police (SPVM) says that since Oct. 7, amid the Israel-Hamas war, 146 hate crimes and 104 hate incidents have been recorded by the SPVM. Thirty-one files have been submitted to Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecution, the DCPC, and one suspect has been arrested in connection to a shooting at a Jewish school in Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough on Nov.
12, 2023. “Once more, we supervised more than 250 demonstrations almost all of which took place in an orderly fashion,” Shane said. “With regards to the camp at McGill University, we’d like to remind you that the university has applied to the Superior Co.