Chilliwack – While Barry Neufeld is in Ottawa for his date with former BCTF President Glen Hansman in that appeal of a defamation lawsuit stemming from SOGI 123 comments from Neufeld and the Anti SLAPP argument, he will have another legal challenge.
(From Wikipedia: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP suit) refers to lawsuits brought by individuals and entities to dissuade their critics from continuing to produce negative publicity. By definition, SLAPP suits do not have any true legal claims against the critics.)
Recently in a faith based video conversation, Barry Neufeld referred to Dr. Bondar as a “strip tease artist”. He was referring to Bondar’s 2014 parody of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” (then an Internet sensation, with hundreds of thousands of hits). It was Bondar’s way of educating people on the science of evolution.
Bondar will take legal action against Neufeld for the comment.
Bondar’s Statement and video:
I’m suing Barry Neufeld for defamation of character.
To uphold democracy, one must stand up to the powers that seek to destroy it.
Mr. Neufeld and I are two of the candidates currently running for re-election in school district 33, Chilliwack. On Tuesday, September 21, 2022, Mr. Neufeld was a guest on Action4Canada’s Empower Hour. During this interview he referred to me as a ‘Strip-tease Artist’.
I am not a strip-tease artist, nor have I ever been one. I am currently a full-time instructor in the Biology Department and the School of Land Use and Environmental Change at the University of the Fraser Valley.
Creating lies about one’s political opponents and using them gain power in an election are both categorically illegal. Barry Neufeld has done both, and I find myself in a position with only one possible move to make. Women in politics have rights. We cannot sit idly by while our political opponents make up lies to misguide voters.
A ‘cease and desist’ letter was sent to Mr. Neufeld by my legal team last week. I wanted to provide him with the opportunity to publicly apologize for his defamatory comments and set the record straight. He did not respond to our letter and did not make any attempt to apologize.
For this reason, I am now escalating my claim.
I am an educator, a mother, and an incumbent trustee. Working with the amazing District 33 team, for the common good of public education in Chilliwack, has been a career highlight thus far. I’d like the mudslinging to STOP, so that we can focus on the work that we were elected to do.
Thank you,
Carin Bondar
FVN reached out to Mr Neufeld who is in Ottawa for his SCOC case.
He merely said: “Educational Leadership?” and posted the controversial video by Dr. Bondar.
