UW Voices for Palestine (UWVFP) is calling on UW undergraduate students to request a special members meeting to consider removing the WUSA Board of Directors.

On August 7, UWVFP made a post on their Instagram account stating that they were “disappointed” that the WUSA Board had decided not to implement a motion passed at the union’s March 25 Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM), where students voted in favour of amending WUSA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy to comply with boycott targets set by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, spearheaded by the BDS National Committee (BNC).

“The WUSA Board of Directors refuses to implement the BDS motion that the students democratically passed in March of this year,” UWVFP said in its latest post on August 15. “Instead, they are attempting to dodge their duties by doing a review of the Corporate Social Responsibility policy, which is not what the motion called for and is merely a cover-up for not explicitly implementing BDS.”

The group is now directing students to a form requesting a special members meeting, where members could hold a no-confidence vote for elected officers and vote on whether to remove the WUSA Board directors.

In an emailed statement to Imprint, WUSA stated that the CSR policy review is part of its commitment to upholding the motion approved by members. “We respect the right of students to engage in WUSA’s democratic processes and to express their views on matters that are important to them,” WUSA wrote. “We want to reassure students that the Board is carefully reviewing the matter to ensure any decisions align with WUSA’s responsibilities, policies, and obligations, and are made in the best interests of the students we serve. This includes thoroughly assessing and reporting on the potential impacts before any changes to the policy are implemented.” WUSA added that a full review of the CSR policy is expected to be completed by October.

UWVFP also said it believes the Board may be failing to meet its legal responsibilities and is currently in contact with the Legal Centre for Palestine to assess its legal options. Imprint has reached out to UWVFP and is awaiting comment.