Quebec premier asks police to dismantle camp at McGill University

Quebec Premier François Legault is asking police to intervene regarding the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University.

“I will still let the police decide when and how they do that, but the camps must be dismantled,” he said at a press briefing at the National Assembly on Thursday – even though the Quebec Superior Court rejected the day before a request for an injunction to move the encampment that has been there since Saturday.

Legault said the encampment was “illegal” and that “the law must be respected.”

Protesters are demanding that McGill, as well as nearby Concordia University, cut financial ties with companies they say are profiting from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. They also want the university to cut all ties with certain Israeli institutions.

“People can show their position during protests. That’s legal. But they cannot have camps on the grounds of a university,” the premier said.

READ MORE: Pro-Palestinian encampment: McGill community told to avoid Roddick Gates Thursday due to planned protests

Tension is rising on McGill grounds while several dozen SPVM police officers onsite on Thursday amid two counter protests.

University leaders requested police assistance on Tuesday, saying they had failed to persuade protesters to stop what they called illegal action.

Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, did not want to comment on the situation on Thursday.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews