McGill says it will no longer negotiate with pro-Palestinian encampment protesters
CBC
McGill University says it is going ahead with much of the latest offer it had made to the pro-Palestinian protesters camping on its downtown campus. But now, academic amnesty is off the table.
The student protesters rejected that offer last week and say they're staying put at the encampment that has been standing on the campus's lower field for nearly two months.
On Tuesday, the university said it was done negotiating. In a letter sent to news organizations, McGill president Deep Saini said the university is also planning disciplinary action.
"Despite our ongoing efforts to discuss in good faith, the representatives of the encampment have maintained that their demands are non-negotiable while accusing the university of unwillingness to engage in fair discussions," Saini said in the statement.
"As it has become clear that no fruitful outcome will result from these talks, we are ceasing discussions."
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, a student representative for the encampment said administration officials had ignored the students' request for a meeting sent June 14.
"They not only refused to respond, they lied about it and smeared students for it and it is shameful that our administration, which is investing millions of dollars in a genocide, are actively refusing to answer the demands of their students," said student Rama Al Malah, speaking for Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill, a group leading the encampment.
The rejected offer had proposed to explore divesting from weapons manufacturers, disclose more investments under $500,000 and fund students and scholars affected by the crisis in the Middle East.
The protesters have said they won't leave until the university ends its investments connected to Israel's military and cuts ties with Israeli institutions.
"We're staying until our demands are met," Al Malah said in an interview. "Companies like Lockheed Martin, Safran … the university can directly cease investing in them yet it refuses."
In an interview with CBC News after the students' news conference, Fabrice Labeau, McGill's vice-provost of student life and learning, said the June 14 email from the student protesters had rejected the offer made by the school as well as a proposal for mediation.
"They have stayed completely static and they have stuck to their initial demands," Labeau said of the student activists.
"They're talking about divestments from a lot of companies for very weird reasons. For example, they're saying we should divest from all the major banks in Canada because they're implicated in weapons manufacturing."
Labeau said the offer the university had made resembled offers from other universities that had led to the end of other encampments.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.
Daniel Jolivet, 68, had his first taste of freedom this weekend after spending the last 33 years behind bars.
Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson over allegations he failed to act in the best interest of the band and financially benefitted from breaches of duty — including claims that he enriched himself, his family and supporters.