The president of the University of Toronto has announced the school’s lawyers are formally seeking an injunction order to end an encampment by Pro-Palestinian protesters at King’s College Circle.
Meric Gertler said in a statement issued Monday morning that the university’s lawyers “served documents seeking an injunction order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and asked the court for an expedited case conference for scheduling.”
“In addition to pursuing this legal avenue to return King’s College Circle to the University community, we continue to engage in discussions with students representing those in the encampment,” the statement said.
“We held a long and productive meeting yesterday and are meeting again today. We remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement and bring the unauthorized encampment to an end.”
Demonstrators were given an 8 a.m. Monday deadline to leave the encampment, but they said they didn’t plan on leaving until the University of Toronto complies with their demands.
The two sides met again on Sunday as the protesters presented a counter-offer to school administrators with an encampment spokesperson expressing hope it will encourage the university to speedily divest itself of investments in companies profiting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
More to come.
With files from The Canadian Press