On Feb. 22, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals overwhelmingly approved a Conservative motion condemning Canadians who promote the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel.
The motion called on the Canadian government to “condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad,” which it describes as promoting the “demonization and delegitimization” of Israel.
The motion passed by a vote of 229-51. Two Liberals voted against it.
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Tom Mulcair criticized the Liberal government’s decision.
“This goes against the freedom of expression we hold so dear in our society,” Mulcair said in a press release.
On the same day, McGill University’s student body voted to support the BDS movement, prompting BDS supporters to express disappointment in the Canadian government.
“It was pretty symbolic. It’s shown us that we can’t trust our government to uphold the principals of human rights and justice,” said Lucas Snaije, a McGill BDS Action Network member.
But in the online ratification process that followed last Monday’s Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) general assembly, McGill undergraduates voted against the BDS movement.
SSMU announced Saturday morning that the online vote on the BDS motion, proposed by the McGill BDS Action Network, failed by a margin of 57 per cent to 43 per cent.
The BDS movement—often depicted as controversial and divisive—has Canadian university administrations struggling to separate their institutions from the decisions made by their student federations.
While the university had remained quiet out of respect for its student governance processes, on Feb. 27 principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University Suzanne Fortier issued a statement revealing the administration’s stance on the movement.
In the press release, Fortier affirms that while McGill respects the freedom of expression of all members of our community, university administration will have no part in the BDS movement.
She describes the movement as a boycott that “flies in the face of the tolerance and respect we cherish as values fundamental to a university.”
“It proposes actions that are contrary to the principles of academic freedom, equity, inclusiveness, and the exchange of views and ideas in responsible, open discourse,” she said.
In April, Ryerson University’s administration released a statement relegating its student federation’s decision to support BDS as “merely symbolic.”
Michael Forbes, a Ryerson spokesperson, confirmed the university does not support a boycott.
Students at the University of Waterloo also rejected the BDS movement in January.
Judy Zelikovitz, vice-president of university and local partner services at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), noted Waterloo’s decision to reject BDS was logical rather than a Zionist decision.
Zelikovitz said a large part of the decision-making by students to reject BDS had nothing to do with the legitimization of Israel as a state and everything to do with academia.
“[BDS] was going to potentially limit their choices and their opportunities by shutting down one of the leading countries in the world for educational exchange and growth—particularly in the fields of study at Waterloo,” Zelikovitz said. “The student body rejected that outright.”
“[The BDS movement] is not about peace-building, it’s not about creating a better environment for the Palestinians, which is what on the surface they’ve purported to be—it is actually a highly divisive motion,” Zelikovitz said. “On a campus, which is a very small-enclosed environment, it absolutely creates an atmosphere of antagonism towards an identifiable population. In this instance, that population is the pro-Israel community, of which many are Jewish students.”
Scott Goldstein, executive director of Hillel Ottawa, an organization that “promotes Jewish life on campus,” said he is happy about the government’s decision.
“This is a sign from the government saying that this is not the right way to go about things. University campuses are not the space for one-sided behavior,” Goldstein said. “We are able to show students that we want positive dialogue and positive change. The BDS does not have this goal in mind.”
