McGill’s spending on security responsible and effective

Following media reports on its spending on security during student unrest earlier this year, McGill University reiterates that this spending was both responsible and effective, said Olivier Marcil, Vice-Principal (Communications and External Relations).

“We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our students and staff and to avoid damage to buildings on our campus, many of them heritage buildings. We take that responsibility seriously,” Marcil said.

“It is important to remember that McGill's downtown campus sits right across the street from one of the more important and frequent targets of protest – the Premier's office,” Marcil said. “We also have a number of buildings fronting directly on Sherbrooke St., a major artery that was often the site of major protest marches and demonstrations.”

One must also remember, Marcil said, that about 80 per cent of our increased security costs resulted directly from the five-day occupation of part of the James Administration Building in February.

“In light of what happened on some other campuses across Quebec, it would have been irresponsible of us to have not put in place the preventative measures we took,” Marcil said.