On Feb. 13, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum published her response to the Jutras Report,
the outcome of Dean of Law Daniel Jutras’ internal investigation into the events of
Nov. 10. The Jutras report details the Nov. 10 occupation of the James Administration
Building and its aftermath, in which Montreal riot police used tear gas and pepper spray
to drive demonstrators off campus. The investigation was conducted at the request of
Munroe-Blum and was released on Dec. 15.
The Jutras report provided six recommendations to university authorities. The
recommendations provided guidance on how members of the McGill community may
learn from Nov. 10, as well as suggestions to “reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.” It
wasn’t until three weeks ago that Munroe-Blum issued her reply to the report.
“I do know that the Feb. 7 occupation [of the James Administration building] played
a role in delaying the Principal’s response by several days,” McGill media relations
director, Doug Sweet, said. “The second thing that delayed the Principal’s response was
the disruption of the Board of Governors meeting on Jan. 31, where the Jutras report was
to be discussed.”
In her reply, Munroe-Blum accepted all six of Jutras’ recommendations. She detailed
her plans for implementing each recommendation and expanded on which initiatives
were “already taken or underway.”
In response to Jutras’ first recommendation, which addressed the need to “discuss the
meaning and scope of the rights of free expression and peaceful assembly on campus,”
Munroe-Blum announced that she has asked Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi to chair
an Open Forum in order to encourage such dialogue.
“The key events will be four 90-minute open meetings to which the entire university will
be invited,” Manfredi said.
Throughout the process, Manfredi will be supported by a nine-member Advisory Group,
which will include students. Manfredi will issue a report to the McGill community in
October.
“My report will endeavour to provide a faithful and comprehensive account of the entire
range of views articulated through the Open Forum,” Manfredi said in a post published
on the Open Forum blog.
Munroe-Blum confirmed in her response to the Jutras report that if Manfredi’s report
suggests the “consideration of further changes to McGill’s policies or procedures,” they
would be deliberated at that time.
However, concerns have been raised about whether the results of the Forum will truly be
taken into consideration.
“There needs to be a clear understanding of how the Open Forum will lead to changes at
McGill,” SSMU president Maggie Knight said. “Otherwise many members of the McGill
community may dismiss them as tokenistic.”
“The value and impact of the open meetings will depend on the level, quality,
thoughtfulness, and diversity of participation,” Manfredi said.
Munroe-Blum also responded to Jutras’ other recommendations, which address
procedures, communication, emergency management, and allocation of authority in
regards to campus security.
Munroe-Blum confirmed she has asked Vice-Principal Administration and Finance
Michael Di Grappa to review McGill’s Security Services’ standard operating procedures.
Di Grappa will also be working with Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning)
Morton Mendelson to “develop recommendations for strengthening Security Services’
relationship with university constituencies.”
“The third recommendation was meant to … reinforce the idea that the mandate of
Security Services is connected most significantly to prevention and the provision of safe
space for all constituencies,” Jutras said.
In response to the issue of allocating authority to call for police assistance in the context
of demonstrations and protests on campus, Munroe-Blum announced that Di Grappa has
defined a provisional protocol that “represents an interim set of guidelines, elements of
which may be revisited as a result of the Open Forum.”
“I would have hoped that there would be a more direct connection between the
consultative processes outlined in recommendation one and the security protocol reviews
undertaken under [Di Grappa],” Knight commented. “I would have liked to see more
specifics on how Di Grappa will be drawing on the insights of members of the McGill
community to reshape security procedures to truly meet our campus community’s needs.”
“The Principal’s response to recommendation two states that Di Grappa ‘is and will
be consulting and implementing changes as necessary,’ which doesn’t address the
concern that the McGill community may not agree on what ‘necessary’ entails,” Knight
said. “Given that recommendations one and four most concretely address communication
with the community, I think these will be subject to the most scrutiny.”
Furthermore, Munroe-Blum announced she will invite the Chief of Police to meet
with the administration on an annual basis, “in order to facilitate and grow mutual
understanding and positive working relationships between the Montreal Police and the
McGill community.”
It remains to be seen whether meaningful and substantial action will be taken to see
through Jutras’ recommendations.
“None of the recommendations assume that security on campus should be increased,”
Jutras said. “Rather, all the recommendations invite the university communit
y to see
y to see
greater clarity as to the appropriate balance between values that we all hold dear.”
“The administration has the opportunity to try to rebuild trust within the community, and
how they go about the implementation of these recommendations will likely determine
their success,” Knight said.
