You are making a lot of assumptions there. I’m not saying the two protest groups are equivalent. I’m saying that uninvolved people only have so much patience for disruption. Protester’s don’t have the right to occupy someone else’s property or engage in the prolonged disruption of other people’s rights. The University is private property and no one has a right to occupy it. The protesters are trespassing. Legal protest is about making your voice heard. It is not about using your presence to force the issue your way. That’s illegal and rightly so.
I’m guessing you don’t have a lot of experience with student protests? They are very common in Montréal, there is nothing extraordinary about this one.
And McGill’s property is semi-private. The university recieves public funds, has easements with the city, and does PIL instead of property tax. So it’s not as clear cut and dry as say, someone’s kitchen.
You’re right, I don’t. There weren’t any long term protests or encampments at my university when I was there. How long does McGill usually let it go on, or do the students just run out of steam on their own? Is the timing of the encampment related to having just finished exams?
The 2012 student strike (printemps érable) lasted from February to September. It was not an encampment per se but it says something about student tenacity. Occupy Montreal lasted a month and a half, although not on university grounds.
Does the end of term matter? Sure. This has been true since students have existed. Remember May 1968? Or Jagger singing “summer’s here and time is right for fighting in the streets”?
You are making a lot of assumptions there. I’m not saying the two protest groups are equivalent. I’m saying that uninvolved people only have so much patience for disruption. Protester’s don’t have the right to occupy someone else’s property or engage in the prolonged disruption of other people’s rights. The University is private property and no one has a right to occupy it. The protesters are trespassing. Legal protest is about making your voice heard. It is not about using your presence to force the issue your way. That’s illegal and rightly so.
I’m guessing you don’t have a lot of experience with student protests? They are very common in Montréal, there is nothing extraordinary about this one.
And McGill’s property is semi-private. The university recieves public funds, has easements with the city, and does PIL instead of property tax. So it’s not as clear cut and dry as say, someone’s kitchen.
You’re right, I don’t. There weren’t any long term protests or encampments at my university when I was there. How long does McGill usually let it go on, or do the students just run out of steam on their own? Is the timing of the encampment related to having just finished exams?
The 2012 student strike (printemps érable) lasted from February to September. It was not an encampment per se but it says something about student tenacity. Occupy Montreal lasted a month and a half, although not on university grounds.
Does the end of term matter? Sure. This has been true since students have existed. Remember May 1968? Or Jagger singing “summer’s here and time is right for fighting in the streets”?