Canada’s last standing pro-Palestine encampment dismantled at VIU

The encampment was given until Sunday, August 18 at 9:30 a.m. to vacate the grassy area of the campus quad located at the centre of the campus. Photo: Joe Pugh / CHLY 101.7fm

For over 100 days, the VIU Palestine Solidarity Encampment stood at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus, and on day 110, the encampment was officially dismantled.

The end of the encampment comes after the BC Supreme Court approved a 150-day injunction, ordering the removal of the encampment. The encampment was given until Sunday, August 18 at 9:30 a.m. to vacate the grassy area of the campus quad located at the centre of the campus.

At the start of the injunction around 20 people rallied around the grassy quad area in support of the encampment as several workers dressed in hazmat suits started taking down the leftover structures.

A letter to the community posted by VIU on August 18 at 6 p.m. said that earlier in the day, with help from a qualified security firm, the encampment was dismantled in compliance with the BC Supreme Court’s injunction order. It stated that fencing has been installed around the site to work on restoring the quad ahead of the fall semester.

It stated that the dismantlement efforts were “carried out with the utmost care” and “all personal belongings from the encampment were documented and will be securely stored for participants to retrieve.

In a statement from the VIU Palestine Solidary Encampment, posted during the takedown of the encampment, they stated while they were fighting against genocide, “VIU was fighting in court saying the Charter doesn’t apply on University grounds.” They stated this has shown the public VIU’s “true colours” which “now makes the fight for justice easier”

At the end of the statement, they stated that they will return.

A statement from the VIU Faculty and Employees for Students for Palestine Committee was posted online on August 18, expressing their continuing support for the students at the Palestine Solidarity Encampment.

They noted their concerns in the senior management team’s “attempt to restrict civil liberties at VIU, [the] decision to sacrifice Charter freedoms for property rights, [and the] reckless expenditures in reaction to the encampment.”

VIU Faculty and Employees for Students for Palestine Committee stated that during the trial, VIU’s “excessive scope of the order” would have “unjustifiably restricted the freedoms of the entire university community.” Photo: Joe Pugh / CHLY 101.7fm

They stated that during the trial, VIU’s “excessive scope of the order” would have “unjustifiably restricted the freedoms of the entire university community.”

The statement said that while Justice Michael Stephens declined to grant certain parts of the order including a court-mandated curfew for students coming to campus and RCMP terms, they remain concerned “that the SMT sought such inappropriate powers from the Court.”

Further in their statement, they said the VIU Faculty and Employees for Students for Palestine Committee is “wholly opposed to this reckless and unjustified spending” and that they are wholly opposed to the SMT taking out its irresponsible financial decisions on students, staff, and the community through curtailing activities, reducing services, and laying off employees.”

At the end of the statement, Palestine Solidarity Encampment stated that they will return. Photo: Joe Pugh / CHLY 101.7fm

In the notice of application for the injunction, VIU stated it has spent more than $870,000 on encampment-related matters since its start on May 1. VIU stated this cost will “lead to further staff layoffs, reduced services to students, and the potential reduction or loss of in-person academic programs on campus in the upcoming semesters.”

In the statement, they call for VIUFA, CUPE, VIUSU, and the BCGEU to hold the senior management at VIU accountable for their “reckless expenditure.”

Several hours after the encampment was taken down all that was left was orange fencing and the spray-painted quote “we will return” written where the encampment once stood.

With files from Joe Pugh

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.