MEDIA ADVISORY: Quebec Court of Appeal Upholds Student Democracy and Pro-Palestine Advocacy at McGill

MONTREAL, April 24, 2025 /CNW/ - The SSMU and the Québec student movement won a landmark major legal victory on April 17th, 2025, when the Québec Court of Appeals (2025 QCCA 475), unanimously struck down an interlocutory injunction blocking the ratification of the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine. While originally passed in November 2023 by 78.7% of voters in the highest-turnout referendum in SSMU history, the Policy was only ratified 16 months later earlier this week.

Notably, the Court ruled that preventing ratification violated students' freedom of expression and democratic rights:

"L'Association et les milliers d'étudiants […] sont privés de faire valoir leurs critiques et revendications […] ce qui constitue l'expression première de leurs idées et de leur liberté d'expression sociales et politiques."

The Policy calls on the McGill Administration to immediately divest from and sever ties with institutions complicit in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. It also calls on the SSMU to publicly condemn these internationally recognized war crimes while standing in solidarity with our Palestinian and Arab peers.

The now-overturned injunction was backed by pro-Zionist lobbying group B'nai Brith Canada— known for its history of attacks on Palestine advocacy on McGill campus. 

Separately, the Superior Court of Quebec upheld the SSMU's Policy Against Antisemitism on April 8th, 2025, defeating  Zionist activist and MP candidate Neil Oberman's efforts to block its ratification. This policy explicitly distinguishes anti-Zionism from antisemitism, ensuring Jewish students from all backgrounds are protected while upholding free expression.

The Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) invites members of the media to a press conference on Friday, April 25, 2025, at 2:30 PM outside the University Centre (3480 McTavish St, Montreal, QC H3A 0E7). Rain location: Room 203.

SSMU VP External Hugo-Victor Solomon will be joined by Concordia Student Union (CSU) External & Mobilization Coordinator Danna Noor, to discuss the implications of this win on the broader fight for student democracy and protection of political expression on campus.

WHEN: Friday, April 25, 2025 — 2:30 PM
WHERE: 3480 rue McTavish, Montreal (Rain: Room 203)
WHO: Hugo-Victor Solomon (SSMU), Danna Noor (CSU)
CONTACT: [email protected] | (206)-914-0640 | ssmu.ca

SOURCE Student Society of McGill University