McMaster University students end hunger strike after 8 days, citing health and safety concerns

A group of McMaster University students have ended an eight-day hunger strike, but have vowed to intensify their efforts to get the university in Hamilton to reverse its decision to install four natural gas-powered generators on Cootes Drive. 

The McMaster Divestment Project, which organized the strike, said in a news release on Tuesday morning that it called off the "gruelling eight-day hunger strike" due to health and safety concerns.

"I am scared to do this, but I am more scared not to," said Mila Py, one of the hunger strikers.

"Hunger striking for eight days has numerous negative impacts on health, including deteriorating effects on organs, muscles, cognitive abilities and immune systems," the McMaster Divestment Project said in the release.

"With end-of-term activities ramping up on campus and a continued lack of protective measures at the university, the circulation of COVID-19 is likely to increase. This has already impacted the immediate MacDivest community, and COVID-19 infection for any of the hunger strikers would likely lead to severe consequences."

Six students began the hunger strike on March 20. Two bowed out for health reasons and another dropped out to observe Ramadan. There were four students still on the hunger strike up to March 27 — three of them since March 20 and another who joined on March 23. 

Navin Garg, one of the protesting students, told CBC Hamilton on Monday they hoped McMaster would meet their demand and commit to removing the generators, which are still under construction, and to divest from the fossil fuel industry by 2025.

Generators important in university's infrastructure: McMaster 

In a statement on Monday, McMaster University said its emissions reductions and targets are aggressive and are aligned with or surpass those of other Canadian universities.

"We are continuing to look at ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the generators, which are our best solution for providing energy to campus on the hottest days of summer when the provincial electrical system is nearing its peak capacity," the statement reads.

"While the generators will run no more than 100 hours a year, they are an important part of the university's infrastructure, including making sure that laboratories are able to maintain operations and research programs are not put at risk."

McMaster public relations manager Wade Hemsworth told CBC Hamilton late last week that the university has had discussions with the students throughout the hunger strike.

"The university has made a lot of progress in divestment and our net carbon zero goals, and the hunger strike does not change the due diligence that we have to undertake as we make critical investment and other decisions," Hemsworth said.