Sheldon Jacobson: Nilan firing at TSN places vaccine misinformation on full display

A radio personality refuses to be vaccinated and ends up losing his job. This is something that may occur in some parts of the U.S. But in Canada, where getting fired for anything is exceedingly more difficult?

This occurred last week with TSN radio commentator Chris Nilan, a former NHL hockey player who played with Boston, the New York Rangers, and Montreal. He had applied for a vaccine medical exemption, citing undisclosed medical issues, but TSN did not grant it.

On the surface, this looks inappropriate and unjustified, with Nilan appearing to be a victim. Yet a closer look at the circumstances may provide a different picture.

Anyone who wishes to remain unvaccinated can apply for an exemption, based on religious beliefs or medical conditions. Yet no religious sect has come forward with written doctrines that forbid vaccination. Moreover, medical conditions that prevent a person from safely being vaccinated are exceedingly rare. Plus with different vaccines available, the likelihood that they all contain ingredients that would exacerbate a medical condition is remote.

Nilan’s refusal to be vaccinated is his personal preference and choice, which he is entitled to. However, personal preferences and choices have consequences, which in this case means that TSN opted to terminate its relationship with him.

Private entities like TSN can impose any rules and regulations among their employees. If such policies are so egregious that no one is willing to abide by them, they may be unable to get people to work for them. Whether it is smoking bans within their facilities, bans on illicit drug use or even wearing appropriate attire, they can ask their employees to abide by such policies or seek alternative employment. In this case, asking all their employees to be vaccinated against covid-19 is a policy that they chose to implement.

When high-profile personalities refuse to be vaccinated, they attract widespread media attention. Professional golfer Jon Rahm tested positive for covid-19 during the 2021 Memorial Tournament. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed that he tested positive in late 2021, and most recently, Novak Djokovic was denied a visa to play in the Australian Open due to not being vaccinated. Nilan does not carry the same celebrity swagger of these athletes. However, as a TSN radio commentator in Canada, he is in the public eye and is more visible than the average person.

Should Nilan have been terminated based on his personal preference to not be vaccinated? That is the wrong question.

The better questions is, why is Nilan averse to being vaccinated?

It has been over one year since vaccines have been available. Millions of people have been vaccinated in the U.S. and Canada, with overwhelming evidence supporting the benefits the vaccines offer, both personally and for the public, with minimal personal risks. In spite of such a track record, people continue to come to the conclusion that not being vaccinated is the right decision “for them”?

The proliferation of vaccine misinformation has steered people who lack the education, training or expertise to make decisions that are not in their own best interest.

This would be like a person who has never flown an airplane taking control of a commercial jet away from a seasoned and experienced pilot. The idea of doing so is ludicrous, yet every time people choose to not be vaccinated, they are effectively taking over control of their personal and community’s well-being from physicians and public health officials.

Nilan’s firing from TSN says more about him than about TSN. No one likes to be told what to do. Yet to enjoy the benefits in a free and complex society demands that we all follow some basic rules and policies. If we have learned anything over the past two years, it is that freedoms come with a price, and those who are unwilling to pay the price may lose some freedoms, or in the case of Nilan, their jobs.

Sheldon Jacobson is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.