College of Veterinarians Of B.C. Registrar Larry Odegard And Provincial Health Ministry Inspector Hudson Andrews
Should Be Fired For Witch-Hunt Against Dr. Hakam Bhullar!
Having been caught with their pants down again, College of Veterinarians Of B.C. Registrar and CEO Larry Odegard described his trusted inspector Hudson Andrews’ “racist” remarks as just a “part of an investigative technique” designed to get people to validate allegations. The College top brass is never going to learn and both Odegard and Andrews need to fired immediately to restore some sanity to the College which continues it’s racist abuse against Dr. Bhullar and other Indo-Canadian Veterinarians.
By R. Paul Dhillon
With News Files
VANCOUVER – BC Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick, who is directly in charge of the College of Veterinarians Of B.C. (CVBC), fired off a warning shot against the College’s top brass that either accept the landmark Human Rights Triubunal decision which found that the College systemically discriminated against Dr. Hakam Bhullar and other Indo-Canadian veterinarians who have suffered over nearly two decades of extreme abuse from the governing body of the college which has been playing judge and jury in a literally a conspiracy to force immigrant doctors out of their chosen profession.
Letnick’s hand was forced after the NDP’s Harry Bains highlighted just some of the CVBC’s racist trash in the House in Victoria and initially Letnick seemed hesitant to act and said he would allow the College to study the decision but after ongoing racist activities by the College came to light, the Minister had no choice but to give the College an ultimatum.
“I was troubled to read in detail the allegations of systemic discrimination against Indo-Canadian veterinarians by the BCVMA. There is no place for racism or discrimination anywhere in our province, and I expect all organizations in B.C. to respect, include, and embrace our province’s rich cultural diversity,” Letnick told the LINK in an exclusive interview.
Letnick said since the ruling by the B.C Human Rights Tribunal, the Ministry of Agriculture has been in contact with the College of Veterinarians to explain our expectations that the College accept the findings of the Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling and respect the Human Rights Code.
“I have also personally reached out to the four provincial-appointed board members of the College to communicate my expectations. Further, I have asked the Ministry of Agriculture to look at options available to government to ensure the College operates in the public interest and in the best interest of its members,” Letnick said.
Letnick also addressed the emergency indemnity agreement and said the Province at no time was paying the College’s legal fees.
“I also want to make clear that the Province does not and has not contributed to paying the legal fees associated with the recent human rights tribunal case. At no time has the Province contributed to the defence costs or awards settlements in this matter. Moreover, at no time has the Province agreed to contribute to any award resulting from this matter.
“It is important that veterinarians in the province, especially those who were the victims of racism, have the confidence and certainty that they will be treated fairly and with dignity,” Letnick told the LINK.
Letnick has become more determined in his attempt to discipline the college and bring sanity to the continuing witch hunt of Bhullar since brand new allegations came to light that the College was going to fight the Tribunal’s strong ruling against them and had started without Bhullar’s knowledge another investigation against him even though the College is mandated to tell Veterinarians before starting an investigation against them.
One of the college’s investigators Hudson Andrews was secretly recorded making disparaging remarks about Hakam Bhullar just one day after the college met with Bhullar to discuss findings of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
Bhullar and other South Asian veterinarians led a 12-year fight against the college and its predecessor, the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association, alleging they were being systematically discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity. Earlier in October, the tribunal soundly found in favour of them, awarding 13 veterinarians monetary damages and ordering the college to stop its discriminatory practices, reported the Vancouver Sun.
Last week a secret recording made during a new investigation again captured disparaging remarks levelled at Bhullar, many of them being racist variety and even threats to Bhullar’s life.
In the recordings, a college investigator is heard telling someone the college is out to “nail” Bhullar and will never give him back his licence because he “is unmanageable.”
The investigator, Hudson Andrews, a contract member of the provincial government’s health professional bodies and governmental agencies division, is also heard saying that the college planned to “get” Bhullar by reporting him to the Canada Revenue Agency, the Labour Standards Branch and Employment and Immigration, reported Vancouver Sun.
But Larry Odegard, the college’s registrar and CEO who hired Andrews, predictably denied the allegations even though they are very serious. He said the college had begun an investigation of Bhullar four months ago after it received complaints he might be practicing veterinary medicine without a licence. The association took away Bhullar’s licence in 2009 as a result of an investigation that led, in part, to his complaint of discrimination to the Human Rights Tribunal.
Odegard told the Sun Andrews was hired to investigate the latest allegation and had not yet completed his work when the tribunal’s decision was rendered.
Bhullar told The Sun he’d learned that the college had started a new investigation of him just before the human rights tribunal was to render its decision, and he believed they were looking for any way to prevent him from regaining his license.
He told the Sun he asked a longtime friend, Heather Pendragon, to pretend she was a disgruntled ex-employee named “Hedy Mastel” to determine what the college was doing.
Bhullar said he was particularly worried about Andrews’ statements to Pendragon that other veterinarians would “like to shoot this guy” and “string this guy up.”
“Those are threats. I have to take those threats seriously,” Bhullar said, adding he planned to file a complaint with Vancouver Police.
Bhullar’s lawyer Clea Parfitt told the Sun the college never informed her client he was under investigation, in contravention of previous practices, and that it had all the hallmarks of a campaign to discredit Bhullar despite the tribunal’s admonishments that the college should stop such “fishing expeditions.”
In a letter to the college on Oct. 29, Parfitt said Andrews’ statements show the college’s investigation “flagrantly violates” the tribunal’s order that it stop discriminating against Bhullar.
“If the college cannot act reasonably towards Dr. Bhullar and other Indo-Canadian veterinarians, ” she wrote, “and lawfully regulate the profession without discrimination or retaliation, the task of regulating the profession most be assumed by the provincial government.”
Having been caught again with their pants down, both Odegard and Andrews told the Sun that Andrews’ “racist” remarks are just a “part of an investigative technique” designed to get people to validate allegations. But he insisted the college did not know and would not have condoned threats or suggestions that it would report someone to Revenue Canada, Employment & Immigration or the Labour Standards Branch.
The College top brass is never going to learn and both Odegard and Andrews need to fired immediately to restore some sanity to the College which continues it’s racist abuse against Dr. Bhullar and other Indo-Canadian Veterinarians.
