On May 14, 2024, CJPME wrote to the CBC, Montreal Gazette, and Canadian Press to alert them to a misleading claim in their articles about the McGill anti-genocide encampment. All three had claimed in articles dated May 14 and earlier that McGill would have to secure an alternative graduation venue if the encampment continued. However, after communicating with lawyers defending the encampment, CJPME was able to confirm that McGill had already secured an alternate venue.
This fact impacts the unfolding situation by changing public perceptions of the urgency in finding a satisfactory solution to the encampment. It also has significant consequential effects on the injunction itself. McGill’s confirmation that it had already secured an alternative venue led the judge to dismiss the "seriousness or irreparable prejudice" criterion of the injunction.
This change was reflected in other outlets as they realized omitting this critical context misrepresented the urgency of the injunction. Yet, the CBC, Montreal Gazette, and Canadian Press have not updated their articles to reflect the fact that McGill had already secured a venue for its graduation ceremony.
On May 14, the Montreal Gazette wrote:
Apart from increased security costs, the university says it will have to spend more than $700,000 to rent another site for its graduation ceremonies, which usually take place on part of the site where the protesters are camped.
Following CJPME’s complaint about how this was inaccurate, the following day an article was published that read:
According to another representative from SPHR Concordia, also part of the encampment, protesters were encouraged by the effect the camp is already having on the university, noting McGill has had to make alternative plans to hold graduation ceremonies that are scheduled to begin May 28. They normally would be held near the area where the camp is located.
CJPME demands that all three media organizations address this oversight. Public perceptions of the encampments and the injunction’s failure might change significantly once it is understood that the dismantling of the encampment would not impact McGill's graduation ceremony, given that a new venue had already been secured.