Quebec Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry said their continuing presence is an affront to the rule of law.
Experts say the nature of a university means the answer is not as clear-cut as the minister and McGill suggest. Emmett Macfarlane, a professor of political science specializing in constitutional law at the University of Waterloo, said there is legal debate over whether universities, as private entities, are subject to the Charter.
“Across North America, and yes, within Canada, they have been far too quick to demand that encampment be removed," Macfarlane said."In almost all of the circumstances that we're seeing, including at my own university at University of Waterloo, the encampments have indeed been peaceful.” "Almost all of the violence that we have seen in relation to these particular protests have not been the result of the protesters, but instead have been the result of police and universities moving to have the encampments removed or the protests ended,” Macfarlane said.