The rising cost of post-secondary education may not be ideal for students, but it’s no longer a human right’s violation according to the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society.

Blake Frederick, AMS president, and Tim Chu, AMS vice-president external, were responsible for filing a complaint to the United Nations against the government of British Columbia and the federal Government.

It was argued such hikes render post-secondary education inaccessible for some thus breaching human rights, although the complaint has since been retracted following a motion unanimously passed by the AMS council. “[The] President of the AMS overstepped his bounds in taking this action. The Society did not support this filed complaint,” according to the AMS website.

“As a human rights complaint it’s difficult to say it would be the kind of case a court or a tribunal would say is valid,” Michael Lynk, associate dean academic of Western’s law faculty, said. “Rising tuition cost by itself is not a human rights issue. If only they could show that rising tuition costs disproportionately affect an identifiable group who are covered by human rights such as a person with disabilities.”

According to Lynk, students are not identified in human rights legislation as such a minority group. Yet he believes the complaint issued by the two AMS executives could possibly be considered valid by the United Nations but would yield few results.

“There [are] two international covenants […] that came into international law in 1976 […] there are bodies attached to both these covenants which will look at how UN member countries are following the requirements and obligations,” Lynk added. He explained the main purpose of the student association’s complaint is winning a moral claim against British Columbia.

Although both Frederick and Chu were unavailable to comment on the issue, Frederick was quoted as having referred to the complaint as a “media stunt” in the Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper. In the article the complaint was reported to raise awareness about recent tuition hikes.

However, the jurisdiction over education policy and law is the responsibility of the provincial and federal governments according to Dan Moulton, vice-president university affairs at Western’s University Students’ Council.

“The UN doesn’t have any stake in Ontario’s education system and the educational system and the educational experience of students in Ontario,” Moulton said. “I think while it was a noble attempt at drawing some attention towards our issue, in the end, it’s not really going to get anywhere.”

Moreover, the tuition increase in B.C. is less than the Canadian average for the fourth straight year, according to Corinna Filion, director of communications for the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Advanced Development in B.C.

“I’ve heard from many student groups and individual students. I understand their concerns and students are always top of mind when we make decisions,” she said.