Montreal police remove protesters from pro-Palestinian encampment at Victoria Square
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Montreal police in riot gear kicked protesters out of a pro-Palestinian encampment in Victoria Square early Friday morning.
The police operation began around 5 a.m., when police wearing helmets, carrying shields and some on horseback moved into the square in the city’s financial district.
The 15 protesters who were in the camp emerged from their tents, some carrying sleeping bags. The operation appeared to take place peacefully and in relative calm. Police said one 18-year-old man was arrested for allegedly pointing a laser pointer at police on June 25.
Montreal police called the encampment illegal and said they were enforcing city bylaws. A city of Montreal spokesperson confirmed that the encampment was being dismantled and, by 8:30 a.m., city workers arrived to remove the tents, tarps and signs.
The city invoked a Ville-Marie borough bylaw that bans unauthorized use of public space. The bylaw is also used to authorize the dismantlement of homeless encampments.
Friday evening, protesters gathered at Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle before marching through downtown Montreal to demonstrate against the dismantlement of the encampments at Victoria Square and another one at Parc des Faubourgs. The latter was set up on July 1 to protest against the dismantlement of homeless encampments across the city. It was taken down by Montreal police Friday afternoon.
A 66-year-old man was arrested at Friday night’s protest.
Police said he is expected to face charges of assault against a security guard, and mischief for breaking windows at McGill University’s James Administration Building.
According to police, another demonstrator smashed a shop window as the protesters marched to the university encampment — the city’s remaining pro-Palestinian camp.
Police used irritant gas to disperse the crowd.
For writer and political activist Yves Engler, showing up at Place Jean-Paul Riopelle was a way to remind others of Canada’s role in the “horrible” events happening in Gaza, he says.
“We have a federal [government] that supports Israel, charity groups that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to give to different projects in Israel. Our own [Foreign Affairs] Minister [Mélanie] Joly has gone to Israel on solidarity missions since the genocide began,” he said.
After successfully forcing the removal of a pro-Palestinian encampment in a public square, Montreal’s mayor says McGill could have done the same if it approached the encampment on its campus differently.
The Victoria Square encampment appeared on June 22. Protesters there wanted Quebec’s public pension fund manager, the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) to divest from 87 companies with ties to Israel.
After the police raid, Emma Jaubert, 20, a protester who said she had spent every night at the camp since it was established, stood on the street nearby. She and the other protesters had been kicked out of the camp, but most had not been arrested. Police told them they could “just leave,” she said.
“It was not extremely violent but it was still pretty violent,” she said. “They were very aggressive with us, with how they dismantled us.”
Jaubert’s morning began when a police officer used a megaphone to warn the protesters of the imminent operation, followed shortly by the arrival of riot police shouting “leave,” Jaubert said.
“I think it’s because it’s in a public place instead of a university campus so its a lot easier for them to do it without an injunction. It’s a lot more in the eye of the public,” she said.
“I think we’re putting a lot of pressure on the government right now and they probably really don’t like that.”
Police later escorted the protesters back into the encampment to retrieve their personal items.
Time to end McGill encampment, university says
Mayor Valérie Plante released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that the encampment prevented others from using the park.
“You can’t permanently occupy a public place, no matter what the cause. Public space must remain public,” she wrote in French.
“Just as we can’t accept as a society that public space becomes a hospital or open-air housing, we can’t accept that public space becomes the headquarters of a cause, whatever it may be.”
Plante held a press conference Friday morning to respond to questions about the dismantling of the encampment, but it was delayed by a protester shouting “Free Palestine” and accusing her of caving to political pressure.
She described the police operation as professional and said the decision to remove the camp was not taken lightly.
In a statement, Yair Szlak, the president and CEO of the pro-Israel advocacy group Federation CJA, characterized the McGill and Victoria Square encampments as antisemitic and called the dismantling of the Victoria Square encampment “a good start.”
“Today, we call on the municipal officials to demonstrate leadership and finally deal with the encampment at McGill and to put an end once and for all to the unchecked hate on our streets,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, after protesters linked to the Square Victoria camp vandalized the CDPQ offices, François Bonnardel, Quebec’s public security minister, took to X to criticize the city’s inaction toward the encampment.
“I’m surprised the city of Montreal hasn’t said more about the encampment issue,” he said. “On our side, we have made our position clear. We are starting to see the consequences of this passive approach.”
Friday’s operation stood in stark contrast to the police response to an encampment at McGill University’s downtown campus, where for more than two months students have camped in protest of the university’s investments in weapons companies and companies with ties to Israel.
Deep Saini, the president and vice-chancellor of McGill, said the news of the dismantlement of the Square Victoria encampment was “an encouraging sign that the city of Montreal and SPVM are taking a serious approach to these illegal encampments.”
As pro-Palestinian encampments pop up on university campuses across Canada, there’s a renewed focus on freedom of expression.
“Following this morning’s intervention, I have every expectation that the city and SPVM will remain consistent in their approach, and act swiftly to remove the encampment here as well,” he wrote in a message sent to students and staff.
McGill and the protesters on its downtown campus are at an impasse and Saini has accused them of engaging in hateful, intidimating behaviour.
Zaina Karim, a spokesperson for the McGill encampment protesters, said they would not move until their demands are met.
“This is an intimidation tactic from McGill but students will stay strong,” she said.
Two Quebec Superior Court judges have so far rejected provisional injunctions to have the McGill encampment removed and police have said they will not act against it until they receive judicial authorization.
In Quebec’s Eastern Townships, protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Université de Sherbrooke said Thursday they were packing up and going to dismantle their camp, saying discussions with the university were not progressing and that the university had made it too difficult for them to stay.
