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BCTF responds to Supreme Court of Canada ruling on former Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld

President Clint Johnston calls it a ‘win for anyone who has faced legal action that aims to intimidate’
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Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld (left) and former BCTF president Glen Hansman (right).

The B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF) is applauding Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision that ends former Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld’s defamation lawsuit against former BCTF president Glen Hansman.

“Today’s ruling is a clear win for anyone who has faced legal action that aims to intimidate or silence legitimate public criticism,” BCTF president Clint Johnston said in a statement issued shortly after the decision was rendered.

Neufeld has expressed homophobic and transphobic comments repeatedly starting in 2017 when he started criticizing the Ministry of Education’s SOGI 123 program, which is designed to foster inclusion for students who face discrimination because of gender identity.

Neufeld called it “a weapon of propaganda” and lamented that children were “being taught that heterosexual marriage is no longer the norm,” all patently false claims.

“I belong in a country like Russia, or Paraguay, which recently had the guts to stand up to these radical cultural nihilists,” he said as part of his now infamous 2017 Facebook post.

In media interviews, Hansman, a gay man, was among the majority of people speaking against Neufeld and he called him “intolerant,” “bigoted,” and said “whether (Neufeld) likes it or not, members of the LGBTQ school community are here to stay.”

Among Neufeld’s critics were the president of the British Columbia School Trustees Association, other members of the Chilliwack School Board, and then Minister of Education Rob Fleming who called Mr. Neufeld’s views “outdated and bigoted.”

Neufeld sued Hansman, but his lawsuit was dismissed by a B.C. Supreme Court judge under the Protection of Public Participation Act (PPPA). It was decided that the protection of Hansman’s expression outweighed the harm done to Neufeld.

The B.C. Court of Appeal, however, overturned that decision saying Neufeld’s lawsuit should go ahead.

Hansman took it to the SCC, which decided the first judge who dismissed Neufeld’s defamation lawsuit was correct in finding that the suit had the effect of suppressing debate on matters of public interest.

READ MORE: Supreme Court of Canada decides against former Chilliwack school trustee in defamation case

BCTF president Johnston said that the decision is an affirmation of the importance of standing up for vulnerable communities and marginalized individuals.

“I want everyone in British Columbia’s education community, particularly LGBTQ2S+ teachers, students, and families, to know that the BCTF will always stand up for your safety and inclusion in our schools.”

Hansman also responded to the decision.

“I hope this decision makes things easier for anyone speaking in defence of a marginalized community, particularly those speaking in defense of 2SLGBTQ youth and trans people generally, without having to be fearful of retaliatory legal action.”

The BCTF also addressed the fact that the SCC decision went to great lengths to describe the discrimination faced by transgender individuals in Canada.

“The transgender community is undeniably a marginalized group in Canadian society,” Justice Andromache Karakatsanis wrote in the majority decision. “The history of transgender individuals in our country has been marked by discrimination and disadvantage.

“Indeed, transgender people occupy a unique position of disadvantage in our society, given the long history in psychiatry ‘of conflating [transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+] identities with mental illness’ and even resorting to harmful ‘conversion therapy’ to ‘resolve’ gender dysphoria, and ‘recondition’ the individual to reduce ‘cross-gender behavior’

“Transgender people have faced discrimination in many facets of Canadian society. Statistics Canada has concluded that they are at increased risk of violence, and report higher rates of poor mental health, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse as a means to cope with abuse or violence they have experienced.”

Neufeld has repeatedly declined to respond to comment on this or any other issue in recent years.


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