APRIL 3, 2025 VOLUME 118 ISSUE 10
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ANGWARA NILANONT GAZETTE
How Western spent $1.7M responding to summer encampment and related protests FINN TOPOROWSKI STAFF REPORTER
W
estern spent $1.7 million in unbudgeted funds responding to last summer’s pro-Palestinian encampment, with the majority of costs going towards private security. Documents obtained by the Gazette through a freedom of information request show that 96 per cent of the total — $1,736,548 — was spent on security. This included $920,006 paid to Corporate Investigation Services and $709,406 to Alpha Security Services. Another $20,017 went to the London Police Service and $10,359 to Western Special Constable Service, both police services for “hire-on officers.” At the Feb. 6 Board of Governors meeting, Western University’s vice-president operations and finance Lynn Logan shared an update on the uni-
versity’s operating budget revealing Western University spent $1.7 million in unbudgeted expenses responding to “the encampment and related protests” last summer. When asked by the Gazette earlier this year to break down the $1.7 million following the meeting, Western provided a brief statement: “The costs listed in the Operating Budget Update associated with the encampment and related protests were for security services.” The Gazette obtained a document listing 20 individual contractors and university departments contributing to this figure after filing a freedom of information request. The document revealed 95.58 per cent was spent on security, 2.76 per cent was spent on cleanup costs and 1.66 per cent was spent on “costs
incurred to support/relocate” scheduled events from May to July 2024. In those two months, the Western Divestment Coalition held a 60-day encampment calling on Western to divest from military contractors and companies they say are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. In a June 2024 statement to the Gazette, Western said, “With all kinds of activities taking place and thousands of visitors on campus, Western Special Constable Service has contracted added security staff to ensure the safety and security of the campus community, including the encampment.” In a March 27 statement to the Gazette about the FOI request, the university confirmed “CIS and Alpha Security were part of the security measures.”
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