Chilliwack School Trustee apologizes as calls for resignation grow
Posted May 13, 2020 7:04 am.
Last Updated May 13, 2020 10:10 pm.
CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — Chilliwack School Board Trustee Barry Neufeld says he’s sorry for controversial, anti-LGBT comments attacking the World Health Organization and Canada’s top doctor.
“I deeply regret and apologize for my comments on social media,” Neufleld said at Tuesday evening’s Zoom conference meeting. “I will be addressing them more in the near future.”
The original comments were made in a Facebook post over the weekend, accusing Dr. Theresa Tam of being born male and hiding her gender transition from Canadians.
Nuefeld said Tam’s advice could not be trusted because of the alleged transition, information that was cited to be taken from Wikipedia.
Chilliwack Progress reporter Paul Henderson checked in on the Wikipedia page’s edits and found the accusation of transition was added and removed within a seven-hour period.
https://www.facebook.com/PaulJHendersonProgressReporter/posts/3049656955070663
Meanwhile, Press Progress reports Neufeld’s Facebook account has been deactivated after it reached out to him to comment on yet another recent post sharing a cartoon blaming “independent women” for declining birth rates among white people in Canada.
Nuefeld’s apology comes as calls for his resignation and removal from the Chilliwack School Board grow, the latest online petition earning more than 5,200 signatures by Wednesday morning.
I have words. This needs to be the end of the line for #BarryNeufeld. What do you say @bcedplan @Rob_Fleming ? Like, what is the line where we go from "oh it's just his opinion" to "this is harming our children?" and act on it?
He needs to be removed, period. #bced #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/JVdp8h7YB4
— Cindy Dalglish (she/her) (@CindyDalglish) May 10, 2020
Education Minister Rob Fleming has called the offending post “hateful” and “unhinged,” and says he is taking his concerns about Neufeld’s actions to the B.C. Human Rights Commissioner.
