The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has obtained intervenor status as Vancouver Island University attempts to obtain a court injunction to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment from its Nanaimo campus.
It argues that the injunction would suppress the fundamental rights of protesters.
“This affects everyone’s protest rights, whether or not you agree with the content of what the students are protesting,” said Ga Grant, staff litigation counsel for the group.
“It’s an example of how injunctions are being too frequently used to suppress everyone’s fundamental rights to protest.”
Along with an injunction against the camp so it can be removed, VIU is seeking damages from the protesters. The case was heard in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Thursday and Friday, with proceedings expected to wrap up with an additional half-day on Wednesday.
An Ontario court granted an injunction against a similar camp at the University of Toronto, prompting protesters to comply with the court-ordered departure in July.
Grant said her group has numerous concerns with the Ontario court decision, which did not undergo an “appropriate analysis” of how Charter rights and values could have been applied to the case.
Like the University of Toronto, VIU is arguing in court that Charter rights don’t have to be taken into account because the encampment is on private property, Grant said.
“This case is a really important opportunity for the court to bring the law of injunction into alignment with our constitutional rights and values,” she said. “What does it mean if you have a Charter right on paper but the courts don’t consider it?”
VIU director of strategic communications Allie Voisin said the university’s ability to comment on the lawsuit is limited while the matter is before the court.
In the university’s last encampment-related update, it said the decision to take legal action was not made lightly but has “become necessary to ensure the university can operate effectively.”
In its civil claim notice, VIU estimates it has spent more than $870,000 on encampment-related matters since the demonstration began on May 1.
Those expenses are expected to lead to more layoffs and reduced services at VIU, the notice said.
The university has an estimated deficit of $43.5 million and has been slashing what it said were unsustainable offerings at the university, including its long-standing music programs.
The encampment occupies the majority of the only central open green space on campus and has prevented other members of VIU from using the space for recreation or informal gatherings “central to Campus life,” the notice said.
Protesters have engaged in a “pattern of disruption” by occupying buildings, disrupting exams, hanging “unapproved and alarming” signage and using megaphones indoors, and have vandalized university property, causing an inordinate burden on the university, the notice said.
Noah Ross, counsel for five defendants named in the suit, called it “an embarrassing failure” on the university’s part to have spent that much money.
“They’re not experiencing harms from trespass — the harms they’re experiencing are from student protest — and these are kind of garden-variety student protests where there are student misconduct proceedings to respond to that.”
Ross said the encampment, which is situated on a sloped grassy area overrun by rabbits, has not been blocking university events, as the nearby concrete area where events are held is still available for use.
But Ross acknowledged that it will be an “uphill battle” for his defendants, as the university has a right to determine if someone is trespassing.
The civil liberties group is among seven outside parties granted intervenor status in the civil suit between VIU and members of the pro-Palestinian encampment that defied an order to leave the campus in Nanaimo by July 11.
Other intervenors include the B.C. Federation of Students, human rights groups, and a number of Arab, Muslim and Jewish organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada and the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
The camp at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo is the last pro-Palestinian encampment in B.C. still standing, after a wave of similar camps hit North American post-secondary campuses this spring.
Protesters at the University of Victoria packed up on July 23, a few hours after a university deadline for them to leave.
