U of T encampment court ruling could affect future campus protests, experts say
Global News
Experts say the court ruling that led to pro-Palestinian protest encampment clearing at UofT could have lingering effects for future protests on post-secondary campuses in Canada.
A pro-Palestinian protest encampment that stood for weeks at the heart of the University of Toronto may now be gone, but experts say the court ruling that led to its clearing could have lingering effects for future protests on post-secondary campuses in Canada.
Last week, a judge authorized police to take action if protesters didn’t leave the encampment site by a set deadline. The protesters complied but promised to keep putting pressure on the university in other ways to push their demands, which include disclosing and divesting from investments in companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Several similar encampments at other Ontario universities have since been dismantled, some under threat of legal action.
While each case is different, experts say the U of T court ruling raises questions about balancing free expression and property rights at academic institutions while possibly setting a precedent for how future campus protests are handled.
“It’s well worth thinking about why universities are considered private landowners when their purpose is public,” said Irina Ceric, an assistant law professor at the University of Windsor who researches law and social movements.
“They’re, at least in part, publicly funded. They are spaces meant to be open to community members, both metaphorically but also very clearly, physically. So there was room, I think, to explore that issue.”
The University of Toronto turned to the courts in May, after protesters ignored a trespass notice and deadline to clear the encampment set up in an area known as King’s College Circle. The school raised three main objections in its case: it claimed the encampment was violent, associated with antisemitic language and had taken over school property.
Ontario Superior Court of Justice Markus Koehnen ruled in the university’s favour.