Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has continued to push Premier Danielle Smith on the responses to the anti-Israel encampments at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta. After witnessing the removal of the anti-Israel encampments at U of C and U of A, Notley said Smith’s first reaction was to justify and defend the actions of police and their administrations. “So to the premier, did she or anyone in her office or anyone of her ministers or anyone in their offices speak with anyone in administration at either of the universities about the possibility of siccing the police on these protestors before it happened,” said Notley in a Wednesday speech during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature. Smith responded by saying U of C’s and U of A’s administrators made it clear students have the freedom to hold protests. “However, 25% of the protestors at U of A were students and the rest were not,” she said. “They’ve also made it very, very clear that their policy is you cannot camp out overnight.” After the encampment was removed, she said she was pleased to see 500 protestors come back and protest peacefully. That is what its administration wanted. Notley accused Smith of failing to give an answer to the question. “Now we are concerned about police action,” she said. “We called for the ASIRT (Alberta Serious Incident Response Team) investigation back on Friday, and we look forward to its findings.” However, she said it has “concerns about the outrageous decisions make by university adminsitrators and their disproportionate and brazen clampdown on peaceful protestors in what should be the heart of free speech in our province.” She asked if she will ensure Alberta Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney does her job and launches an investigation into the decisons made by the universities. If there was any evidence of excessive use of force, Smith said ASIRT would launch an investigation. “They’re analyzing the claims that have been made and then they’ll do their work in due course,” she said. “That’s the way our system works.” Alberta has police oversight to ensure laws are enforced appropriately. She said she supports people’s freedom to protest, but it has to be within the boundaries of the law. At the moment, Notley said faculty, staff, students, and parents are demanding accountability. “The U of A associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion resigned saying ‘I can neither protect students nor facilitate the difficult conversations that are needed,’” she said. “So to the premier, in addition to the ASIRT investigation that she keeps conflating these questions with, why won’t she ensure her minister uses Section 99 of the Post-Secondary Learning Act to investigate the heavy-handed decision to attack free speech on our university campuses.” Smith said the Alberta government “was going through and looking to see whether there is any evidence of excessive use of force and ASIRT will do their work.” “The universities have been very clear that they have private property.” U of A has a policy forbidding overnight camping. It was clear about it and gave notice to the protestors many times to be able to remove the encampment, but they refused to comply. She concluded by repeating she was pleased to see the peaceful protest at U of A after the encampment was removed. Smith said during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature on Monday Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis had the chance to meet with U of C and U of A, students, and the Calgary and Edmonton police chiefs about the anti-Israel encampments. READ MORE: Smith says Ellis to ask ASIRT to look into anti-Israel encampment removalsReports have been raised about potential injuries from the anti-Israel encampment removals. “And so my minister of public safety and emergency services has committed that he will ask ASIRT to do an investigation to ensure there wasn’t any unreasonable use of force,” she said.
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has continued to push Premier Danielle Smith on the responses to the anti-Israel encampments at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta. After witnessing the removal of the anti-Israel encampments at U of C and U of A, Notley said Smith’s first reaction was to justify and defend the actions of police and their administrations. “So to the premier, did she or anyone in her office or anyone of her ministers or anyone in their offices speak with anyone in administration at either of the universities about the possibility of siccing the police on these protestors before it happened,” said Notley in a Wednesday speech during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature. Smith responded by saying U of C’s and U of A’s administrators made it clear students have the freedom to hold protests. “However, 25% of the protestors at U of A were students and the rest were not,” she said. “They’ve also made it very, very clear that their policy is you cannot camp out overnight.” After the encampment was removed, she said she was pleased to see 500 protestors come back and protest peacefully. That is what its administration wanted. Notley accused Smith of failing to give an answer to the question. “Now we are concerned about police action,” she said. “We called for the ASIRT (Alberta Serious Incident Response Team) investigation back on Friday, and we look forward to its findings.” However, she said it has “concerns about the outrageous decisions make by university adminsitrators and their disproportionate and brazen clampdown on peaceful protestors in what should be the heart of free speech in our province.” She asked if she will ensure Alberta Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney does her job and launches an investigation into the decisons made by the universities. If there was any evidence of excessive use of force, Smith said ASIRT would launch an investigation. “They’re analyzing the claims that have been made and then they’ll do their work in due course,” she said. “That’s the way our system works.” Alberta has police oversight to ensure laws are enforced appropriately. She said she supports people’s freedom to protest, but it has to be within the boundaries of the law. At the moment, Notley said faculty, staff, students, and parents are demanding accountability. “The U of A associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion resigned saying ‘I can neither protect students nor facilitate the difficult conversations that are needed,’” she said. “So to the premier, in addition to the ASIRT investigation that she keeps conflating these questions with, why won’t she ensure her minister uses Section 99 of the Post-Secondary Learning Act to investigate the heavy-handed decision to attack free speech on our university campuses.” Smith said the Alberta government “was going through and looking to see whether there is any evidence of excessive use of force and ASIRT will do their work.” “The universities have been very clear that they have private property.” U of A has a policy forbidding overnight camping. It was clear about it and gave notice to the protestors many times to be able to remove the encampment, but they refused to comply. She concluded by repeating she was pleased to see the peaceful protest at U of A after the encampment was removed. Smith said during Question Period in the Alberta Legislature on Monday Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis had the chance to meet with U of C and U of A, students, and the Calgary and Edmonton police chiefs about the anti-Israel encampments. READ MORE: Smith says Ellis to ask ASIRT to look into anti-Israel encampment removalsReports have been raised about potential injuries from the anti-Israel encampment removals. “And so my minister of public safety and emergency services has committed that he will ask ASIRT to do an investigation to ensure there wasn’t any unreasonable use of force,” she said.
