The Alma Mater Society student council wants president Blake Frederick to resign.

The council of a student union at the University of British Columbia has asked its president and one of its vice presidents to resign after they filed a complaint to the United Nations without gaining the body’s approval.

In an emergency meeting on November 28, the Alma Mater Society’s student council unanimously approved two motions calling on Blake Frederick and Tim Chu to step down, the Ubyssey student newspaper reported today (November 30).

The council also unanimously voted to withdraw the UN complaint, which argued that Canada is violating the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it signed in 1976, by not ensuring postsecondary education is accessible to all.

In a written response posted today on the student newspaper’s Web site, Frederick and Chu—the president and the external vice president, respectively—acknowledged the council’s resolutions but indicated they intend to fight to keep their elected offices.

“We filed the complaint without approval from AMS Council because we cannot continue to sit idly and break our promise to students by not standing up for their right to education,” Frederick and Chu’s response states. “We also knew that it would ignite a fierce debate on campus over the cost of education and draw students’ attention to the out-of-touch priorities and policies of AMS Council.”

Frederick and Chu said they will introduce a motion to revise the student union’s policy on tuition fees at the council’s meeting on Wednesday (December 2).

The two executives did not attend the emergency meeting on November 28.

In an editorial today, the Ubyssey urged Frederick and Chu to resign.

“To stay on, to fight impeachment, to threaten lawsuits would achieve nothing and ensure that the AMS remains paralyzed for months to come,” the student newspaper wrote.

On November 27, Frederick told the Straight that he had “heard some frustrations from students”.

“But I’ve also received an outpouring of support from students who believe very strongly that the government is not doing enough to make postsecondary education affordable for them,” Frederick said at the time.

According to its site, the AMS represents more than 44,000 students at UBC’s Vancouver campus.

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