By Sumayya
Dozens of McGill University students have signed an open letter. They are demanding that a convicted murderer who is currently enrolled in the Faculty of Law be banned from the campus.
More than 40 McGill students signed the letter, which was sent to McGill’s leadership. This happened after it was revealed that Jeffrey George Ewert was attending the campus and going to faculty events. Ewert is pursuing his studies while out of prison on parole.
Ewert’s presence on the McGill campus was confirmed by CTV News after it was first reported by CBC News last Friday.
In their letter, dated Oct. 19, the students argue that McGill failed to tell the student body about the potential danger he brings to campus. They also state that the university must follow its own Charter of Students’ Rights, which says the school must take reasonable steps to keep students safe.
“Admitting a student with Ewert’s history without an assessment of his risk to the McGill community, a safety plan, a specialized reporting mechanism, or sufficient consultation with students falls short of that standard,” the students wrote.
McGill Provost Angela Campbell told students in a memo last week that Ewert has not been allowed to be on campus since early October. He reportedly started his studies in late August.
The people who signed the letter chose to remain anonymous due to privacy worries. They are calling on the university to keep the temporary exclusion order in place. They want the school to either delay his enrollment or find a way for him to continue his studies from a distance (remotely) for the rest of the academic year.
Claims of inappropriate behavior
The letter was sent to Campbell, as well as Tina Piper, dean of the Faculty of Law, and Tony Mittermaier, dean of students and associate provost.
Ewert was in his 20s when he carried out separate attacks weeks apart on two women in British Columbia in 1984.
According to a 2019 Superior Court choice about moving him to a different prison facility, which was reviewed by CTV News, Ewert is now in his 60s. He met his first victim, a young woman, at a bar and offered her a ride home. He then choked (strangled) her until she passed out and sexually assaulted her. She died from the attack.
His second victim was a 15-year-old girl. He beat her severely and choked her after she rejected his advances. Believing she was dead from the attack, he threw her into a ditch, where she was found the next day. She suffered major brain damage, is now blind, and cannot move her arms or legs (quadriplegic).
After spending 40 years behind bars, CBC News reported that his parole was extended in June 2026.
The students’ letter lists several claims of inappropriate actions on campus. It includes stories of him approaching young female classmates who were drunk during frosh orientation events and making female students feel unsafe.
“Students reported that he was inappropriately physical with several female students, including some who were minors,” the letter claims.
It also claimed: “Ewert’s online and on-campus conduct points to a pattern of over-sexualization and degradation of women. The consumption of sexually explicit content featuring young women and girls, requests for their locations, sharing his personal contact details, and vulgar commentary suggest that, despite interventions, Ewert might continue to hold harmful attitudes towards women.”
CTV News has not independently proved these claims made by the students in the letter. The letter includes screenshots of social media posts that the students claim are connected to Ewert. The letter claims he used a fake name (pseudonym) on those accounts.
Claims taken out of context, Ewert’s lawyer says
Nora Demnati, Ewert’s lawyer, said in a written statement on Friday that he immediately shared the contents of the letter with his parole supervisor. She said he is working with his case management team regarding the situation at McGill.
She also highlighted the importance of the ongoing checks by Correctional Service Canada and the Parole Board of Canada. She stated that “both have determined that Mr. Ewert’s assessed risk can be safely managed in the community.”
“On the contrary, when isolated pieces of information are assessed outside of that framework, without access to the full picture and without professional training, the inferences drawn risk being incomplete, inaccurate and prejudicial,” Demnati said. She added that while the worries in the letter are understandable, “it is important to caution against drawing conclusions on partial information or on information taken out of its original context.”
Demnati said Ewert is being watched by methods that the general public does not know about. She said the contents of his phone are regularly checked at his parole supervisor’s choice. He is also not allowed to delete anything from his phone, including photos and messages, though he is allowed to use social media.
“Mr. Ewert recognizes that his past has caused harm, and he understands that it can make people, particularly women, uncomfortable. That discomfort is legitimate and he does not minimize it. He also remains mindful of the harm caused to his victims,” his lawyer said.
“What the open letter suggests, however, is that some of his alleged behaviours on campus, which did not raise concern when they occurred, are now being re-examined, after the fact, through the lens of his past convictions. Mr. Ewert is not in a position to respond to these allegations specifically, as they are presented without the context in which they allegedly took place. What he can say is that he is prepared to engage with any process that affords him the opportunity to do so.”
The statement finished by saying that Ewert had planned to tell more students and faculty members about his criminal past directly. However, “significant adjustments” to university life stopped him from doing so before he stopped coming to campus on Oct. 6.
“He hopes that McGill University will be open to engage in an honest and genuine conversation and to work with him to explore alternatives that can adequately address their concerns,” his lawyer said.
Case sparks strong debate
Nick Trehan, a first-year McGill law student who signed the letter, told CTV News in an interview that the case has started a very divided discussion about rehabilitation and women’s safety.
“I think it’s fair to have either perspective,” he said.
“With that being said, if we take the position that this is someone we want in our community, for both his safety and the safety of our community, we have to do it in a way that feels intentional, that has consultation with the community, that has safety plans and protocols, and that has contingencies that are able to support people, specifically when we think about something like gendered violence, which is such a difficult issue that is happening on campuses right now.”
When asked to answer the claims in the letter, McGill said on Thursday in an email that it could not comment on specific cases due to provincial privacy laws.
Speaking generally about its rules, McGill said criminal background checks are not usually a part of the admissions process for Canadian universities. However, it stated it would “act quickly and decisively should concerning information be brought forward about a student’s background or behaviour on campus.”
The university also said it would work together with relevant government officials, like Correctional Service Canada, and would remove a student to guarantee “a safe environment for teaching, learning and research.”
The email added: “The safety and security of our students is paramount. Full stop.”
