In an attempt to build credibility to one of the most racist government institutions in BC – who after losing their case at the BC Human Rights Council continued racist abuse against their Indo-Canadian members after more than a decade of litany of unfathomable abuses – Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick appointed respected former Supreme Court justice and former Attorney General of BC Wallace Taru “Wally” Oppal, QC, as a member of the council of the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia this week.
By R. Paul Dhillon
VANCOUVER – In an attempt to build credibility to one of the most racist government institutions in BC – who after losing their case at the BC Human Rights Council continued racist abuse against their Indo-Canadian members after more than a decade of litany of unfathomable abuses – Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick appointed respected former Supreme Court justice and former Attorney General of BC Wallace Taru “Wally” Oppal, QC, as a member of the council of the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia this week.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Wally Oppal as a new public lay member of the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia,” Letnick said in a press release Thursday.
“Wally is an exemplary British Columbian and the former attorney general and minister responsible for multiculturalism. We are honoured that he will be providing his expertise to the college.
“Wally’s years of experience will be a huge asset to the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia and I congratulate him on his appointment to a term ending Dec. 31, 2017.”
Oppal joins existing council members David Dewhirst, Jeremy W. Pierce, and Linda A. Wong on the CVBC’s council. CVBC mandate is to create, promote and enforce a high standard of qualification, conduct and competence by practitioners of veterinary medicine.
Oppal’s appointment comes on the heels of Indo-Canadian Veterinarians having suffered the most extreme form of racism from the College of Veterinarians of BC (CVBC), formerly known as British Columbia Veterinary Medical Association (BCVMA), the very body that governs their livelihood yet the BC Government has remained silent and continues to support this racist College.
“Asshole”, “Sociopath”, “Gone are the days when we could go there with a torch and burn it down, a quicker way” and “Go back to Pakistan”, are some of the racist and abusive comments made by the upper echelon of the CVBC, the BC government appointed Association, that is supposed to be fair and balanced towards all of its members.
Yet despite a landmark ruling by the BC Human Rights Tribunal, which clearly said in a 2000 page decision, that the CVBC-BCVMA carried on an orchestrated deeply rooted discrimination against the immigrant veterinary doctors, as kind of an extreme form of a racist witch hunt.
Until recently when members of the BC Liberal power players finally cracked down on the Association’s gang of racists after great pressure from the Indo-Canadian community, the opposition NDP, who raised this issue of Liberal government continuing to support the College, saying the B.C. Liberal government permitted the professional association governing B.C. veterinarians to discriminate against South Asian professionals for over a decade by providing it with an emergency indemnity, a kind of an umbrella from the big boss so that the college can continue to abuse the victims.
“A 10-year-long battle against institutional racism was dragged out because the Liberal government was underwriting the veterinarians association, which allowed it to persist with a legal defense,” said New Democrat Leader John Horgan.
“The tribunal found against the college, and for the South Asian veterinarians, but because the government helped the college with a taxpayer-funded indemnity, those foreign-trained veterinarians faced extended discrimination.
“Now, with the case before the tribunal concluded, the college is considering an appeal, meaning the taxpayers of B.C. could be on the hook for even more costs – all the while, the discriminatory practices could continue.”
“It’s truly disappointing that the government would choose to side with the perpetrators of discrimination, instead of trying to help the victims,” Horgan added.
But recently, the kingpin of the abused Indo-Canadian veterinarians Dr. Hakam Bhullar, who along with his Vets-For-Justice Group had been vindicated by the Human Rights Tribunal Ruling after more than a decade of abuse but the Liberals continue for some reason to support and fund “Racist” College of Veterinarians of BC as disclosed by the NDP’s recent finding of this emergency indemnity, was finally granted his license back after it was taken without cause.
In 2004, complaints began to be lodged with the tribunal, arguing that language standards imposed on foreign-trained veterinarians were unreasonably high and that the South Asian veterinarians faced more stringent disciplinary action because of their race. The case dragged on through 356 days of hearings over 10 years before a decision was finally rendered earlier this year.
It remains to be seen how Oppal’s appointment will go towards cleaning up the racist mess but the respected justice has a good track record.
Oppal, a Senior Counsel and Strategic Advisor for Boughton Law where he focuses on alternative and traditional dispute resolution as well as Aboriginal law, was appointed as Attorney General of BC in 2005 and served as the Minister of Multiculturalism until 2009. During his tenure, he established Canada’s first community court for chronic offenders and developed new Rules of Court which promoted quicker resolution of disputes and developing initiatives in dealing with violence against women. Previously, he practiced law for fourteen years and served as crown counsel and defence counsel for numerous high profile criminal cases. He was appointed to the BC Court of Appeal in 2003 and the Supreme Court of BC in 1985.
Most recently, Oppal was appointed as the Commissioner of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. He is presently a member of the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation board and is the Chancellor for Thompson Rivers University. Oppal is the recipient of the Medal for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Public Safety (2005), the Lawyer Helping Lawyer Award from the Lawyers Assistance Program of BC (2007) and the Distinguished Service Award (2000). He completed his law degree from the University of BC.
