The EIESL Project

By Trisha Taneja

This afternoon, AMS President Blake Frederick (along with UBC graduate and former AMS VP Administration Tristan Markle) filed a complaint to the United Nations (I kid you not) stating that Canada has engaged  in “a consistent pattern of gross human rights violation” by not ensuring that post-secondary education is accessible to everyone.

According to article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.” Frederick says that since tuition fees have been on the rise and government funding for post-secondary education (both to universities and students through grants and bursaries) in decline, the UN should hold Canada accountable. And this complaint was filed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

There are so many (oh, so many) issues with this, I don’t even know where to start. Leaving aside the political ramifications and the fact that Frederick has made UBC a national (if not international) laughing stock, let us focus for a moment on this whole human rights business.

Earlier this semester as a part of EIESL we discussed how aid and human rights has become almost a trend. Celebrities from Bono to Oprah Winfrey have been spreading the word and drawing public attention to aid, orphans, human rights violations- you name it. Everything now days is apparently a human rights violation; human rights is the buzzword of the day to draw media attention to whatever cause. And now apparently, it is the media drawing word for the AMS. And make no mistake; this is nothing more than a media-stunt. What can the AMS actually expect from the UN? I mean, let’s have a little perspective- do they even have any idea of what constitutes a human rights violation? Logically, this move by the AMS makes no sense whatsoever.

Let’s consider where we stand in terms of education. Firstly, we are lucky to have public schooling up until post secondary. Secondly, we are lucky to have a fairly low tuition rate as compared to other schools that are internationally competitive. Thirdly, yes, we have been facing tuition hikes. Yes, it is unfair. However, we are still lucky not have suffered Berkeley’s recent 32% hike in tuition. And yes, there have been funding cuts to post secondary education, and to student aid programs. It is, however, a recession and there will be funding cuts. And we are still lucky to have access to a job market on campus as well as student loans. There are many many people who would kill to be in our position.

So the AMS lost perspective…what’s the big deal? The big deal is that our university student union- the people who officially represent the students of UBC are now subscribing to cheap theatrics by using international buzzwords to draw media attention. I would argue that this dilutes the very meaning of human rights. There are several issues that rightfully deserve the tag of human rights violation- you only need to look around campus to see a multitude of groups working on these, or just a bit further to the Downtown East Side. Not to perpetuate stereotypes, but there are people who don’t have money to buy food. As we speak war and extreme gender based violence is in progress. There are people who don’t have access to medicines, people who don’t have access to basic primary education.  There are places where there are no student aid or loan programs whatsoever. The treaty Canada is allegedly violating talks about equally accessible education based on capacity and appropriate means. What gives AMS the right (and the qualifications) to say these means (student loans and such) are not appropriate, and that despite the recession the government has a higher capacity to fund education?

Not only is the AMS misusing the term human rights violation, it is also showcasing itself as culturally insensitive and a ridiculously spoiled brat. By using such a heavy term in such a light handed, media-savvy way, the AMS is being insensitive to all those people at UBC that are from places way less privileged than BC, Canada. This is exactly what we talked about in our dialogue series- a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed.  We cannot be throwing such terms around without fully understanding their implications just to gather attention. Believe it or not, ‘human rights’ does mean something important. If our elected representatives don’t realise that, how can we expect it of our student body?

UBC prides itself on being international. “Protecting Human Rights- from here;” that is part of their new brand isn’t it? The AMS has effectively damaged that with a single thoughtless action. Is the AMS really trying to put increased tuition rates for post secondary education on the same level as lack of access to basic food, shelter, medicines, education, and in some cases even safety? Is it really so desperate for attention that it ignores the cultural sensitivities of this issue and this term on an international campus? Please, don’t get me wrong. I am in no way saying that tuition hikes are not an important issue, or that they do not affect students, or that they do not deserve media attention. Nor am I saying that our AMS exec has not tried their best to lobby both levels of governments. But if you are upset about your tuition you hold protests, lobby the government, write articles, organise a rally. Not working?  Try again, try something else. Maybe on a national scale. Do not, however, use terms such as ‘human rights’ as a buzzword for an issue that is in no way even close to being a human rights violation (that too on the international stage), just to garner attention. It is completely unacceptable and unethical. Like the UN doesn’t have other concerns to deal with.

Frederick claimed to submit this report “on behalf of [the members of the] AMS.” Hopefully, the entire world isn’t thinking that the students of UBC have lost touch with reality, and consider rising tuition costs a “gross violation of human rights.” I assure you, at this point, the AMS does not represent me.