Quebec Superior Court judge rejects McGill injunction request to remove encampment

A Quebec Superior Court judge has rejected a provisional injunction request by McGill University to remove pro-Palestinian encampment activists from its front lawn in downtown Montreal.

Justice Marc St-Pierre said in his decision issued Wednesday morning that the university failed to justify the urgent need to dismantle the camp.

McGill University made the injunction request on Monday, asking St-Pierre to authorize the dismantling of the camp.

In their request, the university's lawyers argued that the encampment was unsafe, posing a risk of escalating tensions on campus and preventing McGill from holding its convocation ceremonies in its usual outdoor location.

But St-Pierre dismissed those arguments. He said no serious or violent incident had occurred at the encampment since it was established and even a confrontation with counter-protesters was peaceful.

He also said the university had already relocated its convocation ceremony, which it usually holds on the front lawn where the encampment is located. Lawyers for McGill had argued that the need to hold convocation ceremonies there justified the urgent dismantling of the encampment.

St-Pierre's ruling came as a heavy blow to the university's leaders, who have tried to have the encampment removed. Negotiations between the university and the protesters have so far not been fruitful. The protesters say they will stay put until the university divests from companies with ties to Israel and cuts ties with Israeli academic institutions.

St-Pierre opened his ruling by saying that the injunction request comes amid a wave of pro-Palestinian encampments on university campuses across North America connected to the events in the Gaza strip, were "dozens of thousands of Palestinians are dead, injured or displaced by the Israeli army."

In court on Monday, St-Pierre questioned one of the university's lawyers, Jacques Darche, on Monday, about its claim that there was an "urgent" need to dismantle the encampment.

St-Pierre appeared unconvinced by Darche's claim that the university's convocation plans were "urgent" when compared with the rights of the protesters to demonstrate peacefully.

This story will be updated.