University of Waterloo turns to court to end encampment on campus

The University of Waterloo has started legal proceedings in an effort to evict a protest encampment that has been on its property for a number of weeks.

A group of protesters from the Occupy UWaterloo movement have had an encampment set up near the university’s Grad House since May 13.

In a statement posted to the university’s website, president Vivek Goel noted that the school issued a trespass notice to the occupiers last week.

“The Trespass Notice required the encampment to leave immediately or face consequences in accordance with the Trespass to Property Act,” he stated. “Unfortunately, the encampment remains in place in violation of Waterloo policies, and the law.”

He went on to say that lawyers representing the school filed for an interlocutory injunction on Tuesday in an effort to get the protest quashed.

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“We have said repeatedly, and as is expressed in the report from the Task Force on Freedom of Expression, the right to protest does not mean people have the right to endlessly occupy a shared university space,” Goel wrote. “The behaviour of encampment members has crossed the line to intimidation and harassment making their ongoing presence untenable.”

The university also posted its statement of claim to its website, which said it was seeking $1.5 million in damages, from seven people who were named as defendants as well as others who were listed as John and Jane Doe and unknown persons.

They were also asking for a mandatory order to get the defendants off the property while also restoring the occupied area to how it was on May 12.

The statement also says those in the encampment “have expanded their activities related to the illegal occupation within the Encampment to the broader University Campus, including going so far as to disrupt Needles Hall and blocking access to facilities, confining University staff and several members of its Board of Governors within parts of the building, and making it impossible for them to continue their regular activities.”

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Last week, the OccupyUW movement announced that it had disrupted a board of governors meeting at the university.

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“While the University respects the right of all its community members to engage in free expression and peaceful assembly, these rights are not unlimited,” the statement of claim said. “The University has the lawful right to access and make use of its own property.”

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The university also claims that the group has been negotiating in bad faith.

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“On an almost daily basis, the University communicated with members of the Encampment about safety checks, the well-being of the members of the Encampment, and more generally to establish productive dialogue,” the school claim notes. “But members of the Encampment refused to engage constructively in any of the University’s requests for dialogue, often insisting on their terms, and refusing to communicate unless their specific demands were met.”

Global News has reached out to a member of the OccupyUW movement for comment on the legal proceedings but had not heard back before publication.

In a recent release, the group said its demands include that the university to disclose all of its investments and to get rid of all investments which are on the boycott, divest, and sanctions (BDS) list. It is also asking the school to boycott Israeli academic and cultural institutions.

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