After nasty campaign Carin Bondar wins Chilliwack school board byelection

Posted February 14, 2021 9:55 am.

Last Updated February 14, 2021 11:31 am.

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — The Chilliwack School Board byelection has ended with a decisive victory for Carin Bondar, who won despite a nasty campaign that saw her targeted by an anonymous group of “concerned parents.”

JUST IN: Preliminary results for the Chilliwack School board by-election are in and Carin Bondar has won with 5,455 votes. Her opponent Richard Procee has 4,786. Bondar recently spoke about what she describes as bullying, harassment during the campaign: https://t.co/ee3A1e1W4p pic.twitter.com/sAgZcx1oKL

— CityNews Vancouver (@CityNewsVAN) February 14, 2021

Bondar won with 5,455 votes compared to Richard Procee who came in second place with 4,786 votes. Two other candidates got less than 300 each.

Bondar has made a career of educating people on topics she specializes in, such as animal reproduction and evolution. But her seriousness as a candidate was questioned after an illegal campaign ad tried to discredit her based on a parody video she made of Miley Cyrus’s ‘Wrecking Ball’ video.

Bondar says her victory in the divided school district of Chilliwack shows her the community at large doesn’t agree with what the ad tried to do.

“Our community … it is quite sick of seeing women treated in a misogynistic way, especially when it comes to politics, women’s voices are so important in politics and in all walks and aspects of society, including science,” she tells NEWS 1130.

“I think people are sending a strong message. Women are as capable candidates, and this kind of a smear campaign is not something people are interested in.”

She adds she’s never stood back from her strong stance on science and inclusivity and she won’t now.

“I’ll certainly make sure those agendas remain where they are for the multitude of students that I represent.”

Bondar says she’s ready to hit the ground running with balancing the budget for the next fiscal year as well as the start of a new five-year plan from the board.

“It feels absolutely wonderful to know that I come from a very diverse and open-minded community that’s looking for change in their representation. It feels amazing to be supported after some underhanded moves. It just goes to show that we can be positive we are out for wonderful moves for the future out here in Chilliwack.”

Bondar will replace Dan Coulter, who was elected as the MLA for Chilliwack back in October.

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