Police bar Occupy protesters from U of A campus
Protesters threatened with trespass charges if they camped on private campus property
The Occupy Edmonton movement marched to the University of Alberta on Wednesday, but were stopped from crossing Saskatchewan Drive near 112th Street. They held a rally there, but were prevented from entering the U of A. To watch a video of the Occupy rally, held after the group was turned away
from the campus, go to edmontonjournal.com/video. Story / A3.
A group of protesters that included members of Occupy Edmonton as well as students and staff from the University of Alberta was barred from demonstrating on campus on Wednesday.
Occupy Edmonton, whose members camped out in a downtown park for six weeks last fall, announced on social media in late January that it planned to regroup at the University of Alberta.
The university said an encampment was a public safety issue, and released a statement that unauthorized camping was not allowed.
“Simply, any attempt to establish an Occupy camp on University of Alberta property — which is private property — will put the U of A community at risk, and, further, it will interfere with the university’s clear responsibility to effectively deliver its programs and services to students, staff and faculty,” the statement read.
Katie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the group, said the decision to set up camp would have been made following a rally to draw attention to the “inaccessibility of education.”
That rally, planned for the university quad following a march from Ezio Faraone Park, ended up on the north side of Saskatchewan Drive, across from Hub Mall, when the group was given notice they were not allowed on university property.
Anyone with university identification was allowed through a line of about two dozen police and peace officers. Anyone else from the group of between 50 and 70 people gathered across the street, holding signs with slogans such as “Stop Faculty Cuts” and “Education is a Right,” was told they would be charged with trespassing.
“It was a bit heavy-handed,” said Matt Dow, a master of arts student and member of Faculty of Arts Staff Solidarity, a group concerned about budget cuts.
Dow said students were protesting alongside members of Occupy Edmonton as part of National Day of Student Action. He said he was told any student who took their protest on campus would also be charged with trespassing.
“To associate the whole group that was involved in the rally as an occupier or confrontational actors or people who want to make a bit of trouble, it’s brushing us all with a broad stroke,” he said.
After about two hours, remaining protesters were escorted to 109th Street by police. They were not permitted to take the LRT from the University station.
Nelson said afterward that Occupy Edmonton “made a really big impact.”