McGill Law Students Split Over a Convicted Murderer in the Classroom
Students at McGill University's law faculty remain divided over the presence of a convicted murderer in their classroom. A new counter-petition outlines why some students feel unsafe and do not want him in their presence. An anonymous open letter dated Oct. 19 accuses the university of failing in its duty to protect female students.
The man at the center is Jeffrey George Ewert, convicted of second-degree murder and attempted murder for attacks against two women in British Columbia in 1984. He is serving a life sentence and was granted day parole in 2025.
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The students' request is procedural: a committee including students and experts on the rehabilitation of violent offenders to develop guidelines, with any decision to resume Ewert's in-person studies waiting until that framework exists.
Annica Dickens, a third-year law student and one of the petition's authors, said she was troubled that Ewert was removed from campus without being given a chance to address the concerns first. The petition argues that exclusion undermines his access to education and rehabilitation as an Indigenous man and a survivor of the Sixties Scoop.