Eleven days into his new job at the Richmond Olympic Oval, UBC PhD student Darryl Bannon was fired due to his affiliations with Dr Chris Shaw, a UBC researcher and Professor who has a lab at VGH, and well-known anti-Olympics activist.
Based on the fact that Shaw was Bannon’s supervisor at VGH, Bannon was labeled a security risk, questioned by members of the RCMP and subsequently fired.
“Last week the RCMP began calling me repeatedly—both on my cell and at my hospital job,” wrote Bannon on Examiner.com, where he maintains a blog about health science in Vancouver.
“They wanted to arrange an ‘interview’ and refused to give me details over the phone, but threatened to revoke my Olympic accreditation if I didn’t attend,” he wrote. Accreditation is needed to work at Olympic venues. When he accepted, he claimed that he was asked a ‘slew’ of questions about his opinions about the Olympics and also how Shaw felt about them.
According to Bannon, the RCMP said that they were concerned because statements made by Shaw to the media could imply ‘violent intent.’ He claims he was told that his suitability as an employee would be reviewed, and the next time he came into work, a manager revoked his accreditation, identity card, security tags and Olympic toque and scarf.
“It is all part and parcel of a larger problem that Darryl is now being viewed by these different entities as being guilty by association,” Shaw told The Ubyssey. “Because I’m an Olympics opponent and ISU has been monitoring me…anyone associated with me is a suspect, even though they may not share my views.”
He claimed that he does not even discuss politics in the lab as a general rule. “He lost accreditation, simply because he does experiments in my lab.”
Shaw deems the case yet one more example of an unfortunate legacy the Games have brought to Vancouver: “the punishment of those who are perceived to have the wrong political views.”
“I’m sure they’ve done tons of things…and they won’t be held accountable,” he said. “If this were a human rights tribunal case, they would be found guilty.”
He compared the case to a recent one in which two Muslim men trained in security work underwent background checks and were rejected as applicants to work for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU), leading to accusations of racial profiling.
“The ISU is mandated to complete background checks on individuals to enhance the security of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games,” said ISU Corporal Joe Taplin in a statement released to The Ubyssey. “The ISU makes individual assessments about whether an individual could pose a risk to the Games and may update those assessments at any time.”
Taplin implied the ISU had no direct responsibility in this case. “Only VANOC or the International Olympic Committee has the authority to revoke accreditation, and can do so at any time,” he said.
According to Shaw, people who feel their rights have been violated for the sake of the Olympic Games have little recourse when it comes to appeals or recompensation. “[Bannon] can go to the Human Rights Tribunal after the fact,” said Shaw, “but keep in mind that the company will say they were following the mandate of ISU.”
He also noted that the entities that administrate the Olympics will disappear before long. “ISU will be disbanded, and VANOC will be disbanded, so who is he going to take to trial?” he asked. “They are temporary entities.”
As for Bannon, he will continue with his day job at Vancouver General Hospital while experiencing the Games from afar.
“While I had mixed feelings about the Olympics coming to Vancouver, I was largely supportive of the security apparatus,” he wrote. “I just hope that my Olympic experience is not reflective of what the majority end up experiencing.”
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