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Court orders protesters to take down UofT encampment

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TORONTO – The University of Toronto has suffered irreparable harm from a pro-Palestinian protest encampment that has seized control of part of its downtown campus, an Ontario judge said Tuesday in ordering demonstrators to dismantle the site.

The injunction issued late Tuesday afternoon orders the protesters to take down tents and structures by 6 p.m. Wednesday and bars them from impeding access to university property, putting up new tents or structures, or using the site without permission between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

It also gives police the authority to arrest and remove anyone who knows about the order and contravenes it.

In his ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen said that while there is no evidence the encampment participants have been violent or antisemitic, the demonstration has taken away the university’s ability to control what happens on the area known as King’s College Circle.

The case law is clear that this amounts to irreparable harm, the judge wrote.

“In our society, we have decided that the owner of property generally gets to decide what happens on the property,” Koehnen said.

“If the protesters can take that power for themselves by seizing front campus, there is nothing to stop a stronger group from coming and taking the space over from the current protesters. That leads to chaos.”

The protesters have controlled access to the area in a way that excludes those who disagree with it, as well as those who “simply want to use front campus as an attractive recreational space,” he added.

The judge said the harm to the university if the encampment is allowed to remain would be greater than the harm to the protesters if it is taken down, noting protesters will still be allowed to demonstrate in ways that don’t involve camping or staying overnight.

A spokesperson for the university said the decision “will restore King’s College Circle for the use of all members of the U of T community.”

“We trust that those in the encampment will abide by the court order and vacate the encampment before the court-imposed deadline. Anyone who chooses to remain in the encampment after that deadline will be subject to consequences under university policy and the law,” the school said in a statement.

The protesters set up camp on May 2 and previously said they would stay put until the school agrees to their demands, which include disclosing and divesting from investments in companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The group would not clarify Tuesday whether they planned to comply with the court order, saying they would discuss it before Wednesday’s deadline.

“What I can say is that students will continue to fight for divestment until Palestine is free, until U of T ends its complicity in this genocide,” said Erin Mackey, a spokesperson for the encampment.

“That is something that will continue long after whatever happens next at this encampment.”

The court ruling said the university has procedures in place to consider requests for divestment and has offered the protesters an expedited process.

“It is now time for the protesters to peacefully dismantle the encampment and focus their energies on building support within the group that will investigate divestment and within the broader university community to persuade both groups that divestment is a worthy goal,” the judge wrote.

“Persuasion will not be achieved through occupation but through reasoned discussion.”

The university applied for an injunction late last month after the protesters ignored a trespass notice and deadline to leave.

The school asked the court to authorize police action to remove protesters who refuse to go, and to bar protesters from blocking access to university property or setting up fences, tents or other structures on campus.

The university initially sought the injunction on an urgent basis because the encampment is near Convocation Hall, where graduation ceremonies were scheduled to take place over several weeks this month.

The court heard the application over two days last month, after most of the ceremonies were done. No major disruptions were reported.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions

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OTTAWA – Black and Indigenous women gathered in Ottawa to demand action following a spate of police-involved deaths, including nine Indigenous people who were killed in interactions with police in August and September.

The families, who often spoke through tears about their loved ones, say the federal government must launch a national inquiry into the deaths of them and others.

Laura Holland, a Wet’suwet’en woman and the mother of Jared Lowndes, says it’s impossible to get justice for her son, saying politicians are not listening to victims and are refusing to meet with them.

She says there must be systemic change to the way police services operate.

The minister of Crown-Indigenous relations earlier called the string of deaths troubling and said he encouraged police services to ensure accountability and build trust.

Today, a spokesperson from Gary Anandasangaree’s office says the department will support what communities want and need to address the issue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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Legault ‘shocked’ by Montreal teacher scandal, pledges to toughen secularism measures

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MONTREAL – Quebec Premier François Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was “shocked” by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as “Islamist” beliefs.

Legault appointed Education Minister Bernard Drainville and Jean-François Roberge, the minister responsible for secularism, to come up with solutions to prevent religion from creeping into classrooms following a government report into Montreal’s Bedford school.

“There is something very disturbing in this case. It is this attempt by a group of teachers to introduce Islamist religious concepts into a public school,” Legault wrote on social media. “In Quebec, we decided a long time ago to remove religion from public schools. We will never accept going back.”

The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal — Quebec’s largest school service centre — said Saturday that 11 teachers were suspended with pay after a government investigation found that a “dominant clan” at Bedford school imposed strict, autocratic rule over students.

The investigation revealed that the teachers — many of whom were of North African descent — were allegedly influenced by the local mosque and subjected children to physical and psychological violence. They either refused to teach — or paid little attention to — the science and sex education curriculum.

The evidence gathered suggested some teachers didn’t believe in learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders and refused to let specialists in the classroom, believing instead that discipline — with the idea of “breaking” the student — would put them on the “right path.”

Witnesses told the government investigators that local religious leaders exerted a “strong influence” on several school staff and a mosque representative underscored to school officials the importance of having good relations with the place of worship.

The report mentioned that there were staff members of North African descent who were part of the opposition to the methods of the “dominant clan.”

During a news conference Tuesday in Quebec City, Drainville announced that the 11 teachers — a mix of men and women — have had their teaching licences suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary investigations.

“I’ve raised examples of religious behaviours — whether it is the teacher who starts praying before a student who collapsed in the classroom, whether the classes in science or sexual education are not being taught properly, whether girls were forbidden to play soccer, whether there were interventions by representatives of the mosque nearby to ask the school to behave in a certain way,” Drainville said.

Drainville said preliminary findings show the province’s secularism law — known as Bill 21 — was not being respected at the school.

“According to the members of the committee, there is an issue with the respect of the law on secularism and therefore we have a responsibility to look into what could be done to strengthen this law in relation to Bedford and possibly in relation to other schools in Quebec,” Drainville said.

Legault said it was unthinkable in Quebec in 2024 that teachers were avoiding subjects like science and sex education. “As a government, our first responsibility is to clean up this school to protect the children,” he wrote. “We must also think more broadly to avoid other situations that are just as shocking and, above all, so devastating for children.”

Bill 21 was passed in 2019 and declares the province is a secular state and includes a provision prohibiting public sector workers in positions of authority — including teachers, judges, and police officers — from wearing religious symbols on the job.

Neither Drainville nor Roberge was prepared to say Tuesday what specific steps they would take to address the issue.

“Sometimes you don’t have to change the law,” Roberge said. “You have to apply it, and it’s the job of the principal, it’s the job of the management team of the school centre.”

The government’s investigation was triggered by reports by Montreal’s 98.5 FM beginning in May 2023 about a toxic climate at the school. Education department employees conducted more than 102 hours of interviews with 73 people, and attended a school governing board meeting. The testimonies provided a portrait of a problem stretching back to 2016, as school principals came and went in quick succession.

Drainville has ordered audits at three other Montreal schools — two elementary schools and a high school — that allegedly had similar problems related to the school environment and governance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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Nova Scotia Liberal Fred Tilley quits to join governing Progressive Conservatives

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HALIFAX – A member of Nova Scotia’s Opposition Liberals is crossing the floor to join the governing Progressive Conservatives.

Premier Tim Houston announced today that Fred Tilley has joined his party’s caucus.

Tilley, who represents the Cape Breton riding of Northside-Westmount, was first elected to the legislature in 2021.

While on the Liberal benches, Tilley had been critical of the government in areas such as health care and economic development.

Tilley is the second member of the Liberal caucus to join the government this year.

In February, Brendan Maguire joined the Tories and was immediately named as community services minister.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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