Western University spent $1.6M to police pro-Palestinian campus encampment, docs show

Kate Dubinski · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Western University spent much than $1.6-million connected information during a two-month pro-Palestinian sit-in connected field past summer, documents obtained by CBC News show. 

The cost, archetypal reported by the pupil paper Western Gazette, drew the ire of protesters who accidental the assemblage should not person spent the funds to show a peaceful encampment. 

"It's precise disappointing arsenic a student, to spot that's wherever our university's fiscal priorities are. To beryllium surveilling students and putting astir $2 cardinal toward information for a radical of students expressing their discontent with Western and Western's engagement with antithetic companies and industries," said Munya Haddara, the vice president of communications with Western's Muslim Student Association, which has been vocal astir the protests connected field since past year. 

The summertime encampment, which lasted from May 1 to July 6 2024, was 1 of galore akin protests crossed the world. It was acceptable up extracurricular of the University Student Centre by the Western Divestment Coalition, and called for Western to halt investing successful subject contractors and different businesses linked to Israeli settlements successful the occupied Palestinian territory. 

"There was changeless surveillance. There were backstage probe trucks acceptable up astir campus. People were being filmed constantly," Haddara said, adding that 2 field strikes by teaching assistants and facilities workers garnered akin information tactics. 

A papers provided by Western University to CBC News breaks down the costs of the protests arsenic follows: 

• $1,659,788 for security, including $920,006 to Corporate Investigation Services and $709,406 to Alpha Security Services, arsenic good arsenic $20,017 for London constabulary officers and $10,359 for further assemblage peculiar constables. 
• $38,874 to relocate scheduled events to different parts of campus. 
• $37,887 for clean-up, including powerfulness washing, discarded removal and $33,403 for 'lawn restoration.'

"You can't surveil students similar this and restrict students similar this and deliberation it won't person an interaction connected pupil expression," Haddara said.

Western University said the expenses were unexpected but indispensable to guarantee information connected campus.

"Additional expenses included restoring the grounds that had been occupied by the encampment, including cleaning, removing abandoned lumber, structures and other refuse, and restoring sod and plantings," spokesperson Stephen Ledgely wrote successful an email. 

"During this time, Western hosted thousands of graduates and their families connected our field to observe convocation and some expenses usually incurred were accrued arsenic we were required to change our accustomed plans."

'Over-policing?'

But universities are besides public, civic spaces wherever intelligence exchange, dissent and protestation indispensable beryllium allowed to happen, said Michael Lynk, an emeritus instrumentality prof astatine Western and erstwhile United Nations peculiar reporteur for the quality rights concern successful the Palestinian territories. 

"Was determination over-policing? I was not astatine the campy each that often, but I was determination connected fractional a twelve occasions to spot what was going on, and I was met with a polite radical of people," helium said. "It's imaginable the assemblage treated this arsenic a five-alarm occurrence erstwhile it was a peaceful protest, nary harm that I was alert of, nary violence." 

The assemblage could person negotiated with protesters implicit their requests, and had the encampment extremity sooner, Lynk added. 

"If the assemblage had engaged earlier and much substantively connected these issues, the encampment whitethorn good person ended a batch sooner and determination wouldn't person been this precocious outgo for policing," helium said, adding that that the protestation happened during the summer, truthful nary large assemblage functions oregon classes were disrupted. 

"There was nary existent acrophobic raised successful thing I saw that assemblage operations were being interfered with. They lone had grounds of a peaceful protest, truthful spending $1.6 cardinal connected information raises a batch of questions arsenic to whether the university's wealth was good spent and was necessary." 

Necessary, says Jewish groups

But the protestation happened at a clip of fearfulness and rising anti-Semitism, including connected assemblage campuses, said Dean Lavi, enforcement manager of Jewish London. 

"There is simply a clear, inarguable inclination of a emergence successful anti-Semitism and Jewish hate. It is precise prevalent connected Canadian and Ontario campuses, and Western is not an outlier. We're seeing it everywhere," Lavi said. 

If radical felt threatened, past the assemblage was close to walk wealth connected security, helium added. "I deliberation the assemblage does a batch to support Jewish students and I besides deliberation there's much enactment to beryllium done due to the fact that the incidents haven't stopped...A batch of the behaviour that happens astatine the encampments emboldens radical who are anti-Semites."