On 29 January 1969 , at Sir George Williams University in Montreal , the Sir George Williams affair began with a group of about 200 students , many of whom were black , occupied the Henry Hall computer building in protest against allegations that a white biology professor , Perry Anderson , was biased in grading black students , which the university had dismissed . The student occupation ended in violence on 11 February 1969 when the riot squad of the '' Service de police de la Ville de Montréal '' stormed the Hall building , a fire was started causing $ 2 million worth of damage ( it is disputed whatever the police or the students started the fire ) , and many of the protesting students were beaten and arrested . The entire event received much media attention ; it was recorded live for television by the news crews present . As the Hall building burned and the policemen beat the students , onlookers in the crowds outside chanted " Burn , niggers , burn ! " and " Let the niggers burn ! " . Afterwards , the protesting students were divided by race by the police with charges laid against the 97 black students present in the Hall building . The two leaders of the protest , Roosevelt " Rosie " Douglas and Anne Cools , were convicted and imprisoned with Douglas being deported back to Dominica after completing his sentence , where he later became Prime Minister . Cools received a royal pardon and was appointed to the Senate in 1984 by Pierre Trudeau , becoming the first black senator . The riot at Sir George Williams University spurred-through it did not start-a wave of " black power " activism in Canada with many blacks taking the view that the police response was disproportionate and unjustifiably violent while many white Canadians who had believed that their country had no racism were shocked by a race riot in Canada
Sir George Williams affair
Sir George Williams affair
Black Canadians