Vote 2026: Chilliwack School Board election could get messy as moderates, conservatives ramp up rhetoric
As one member of conservative Christian quintet shared blatantly Islamophobic opinions, some progressives calling them ‘Hate Slate 2.0’
September 3, 2026
*This will be an ongoing file including people who have publicly announced they are running for Chilliwack School Board. If you notice someone missing or an error, send an email or otherwise get in touch, contact info below. Click this link for the city council version – PJH, Sept. 3, 2026
Local elections tend to receive the lowest voter turnout of all levels of government. School board is worse than city council.
Chilliwack has an unenviable recent history of histrionics among trustees, something many thought was over with disgraced former trustee Barry Neufeld and frequently censured Heather Maahs out of the picture. Those two who push for Biblical principles in government, along with one-time trustee Darrel Furgason who frequently shared anti-Islamic materials, caused huge amounts of negative attention on the school board.
Furgason and Neufeld lost the election in 2022, Maahs resigned in 2024 to become MLA, and the progressives or moderates took over buffered only by Hofstede’s owner Richard Procee and former MLA and right-wing Christian conservative Laurie Throness. Throness resigned in February 2026 after Neufeld was reprimanded by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal while Neufeld’s fight with far left trustee Carin Bondar lingered, supported as she was by fellow trustee Teri Westerby.
So, now, here we are in 2026 with a new election on Oct. 17, with Furgason, Maahs, Neufeld, even Procee out of the picture, Westerby and possibly Bondar not running for re-election.
Reasonable progressives David Swankey, Margaret Reid and Willow Reichelt have declared they are running again, as have several other people with experience and solid qualifications for the job, Katie Bartel and Leah Kelley to name two.
But then came the Trustees for Change who are so far making the group of candidates in 2022 that progressives called the ‘Hate Slate’ look like moderate conservatives. Candidate Cary Moore calls for all Muslim leaders to be expelled from Canada, mosques shut down, and any follower of Islam to be declared an enemy of the state.
Moore makes Furgason’s anti-Islam rhetoric look quaint.
As for what the rest of the group some are calling ‘Hate Slate 2.0’ believe in, so far not much has been shared outside of the standard dog whistles about "family" and "faith" and "parental rights." All four apparently thought Moore was a solid person to partner up with despite his publicly known views. None of the four have publicly condemned his disturbing words, and those supporting their campaigns in social media posts have a history of bigotry, anti-LGBTQ views, and connections to anti-vaxxers, the seditious trucker convoy, and other anti-science extremists.
None of this, of course, is even slightly relevant to the job of a school trustee so hopefully the chatter will peter out and people will start talking about education.
First up, who is not running
Of the incumbents on the Chilliwack School Board, Richard Procee said in a casual conversation out in the community that he is not running, which seems to be the case since it is his wife Tera Procee who is behind the conservative Christian slate mentioned above.
Laurie Throness presumably isn’t running since he quit mid-term declaring that he was scared of saying something wrong and nothing has changed since then.
Teri Westerby said in a lengthy Facebook post he is not running.
Carin Bondar hasn’t announced one way or the other as of Sept. 3, but some say she is unlikely to run again given statements she has made in recent weeks.
With that preface, who is running for school board?
Here’s a last-name alphabetical brief overview of incumbents and newcomers who have announced campaigns for school boards, with links to their websites if available.
Katie Bartel is a parent to three teenage daughters, a long-time Chilliwack District Parent Advisory Council chair and advocate for diversity, special education and inclusive education. Bartel lost to Throness in the 2025 byelection called after Heather Maahs stepped down. Her website is katiebartel.com
Barbara Bednarski a retired elementary school teacher who describes her teaching experience in Northern Ontario as from “the 20th century.” She is one of the five candidates on a slate calling themselves Trustees for Change. Their website is Trustees for Change
Michael Carter is a lawyer who lives in Yarrow with his wife and four children. Carter was lead counsel for the Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood where an avian flu outbreak hit and the farm fought the cull. He’s also with Trustees for Change
Marina Garman spent 20 years working in group homes with school-aged youth, many with diverse emotional and behavioural challenges. She’s a parent whose youngest son is in the Chilliwack public school system. She's also with Trustees for Change
Hugh Hamilton is an executive coach involved in corporate leadership development. He also worked in some interesting roles inside the Vancouver Whitecaps organization. Another with Trustees for Change
Sadie Hawkins is a mother of a school-aged child, a local radio producer and on-air personality. Her campaign Facebook page is Sadie for Trustee
Leah Kelley is a parent, an author and has a doctorate in education. She has taught at all levels for 30 years and has expertise in inclusive education and neurodiversity. Her website is leahmkelley.com
Cary Moore is a realtor who says he is Métis, a resident of Chilliwack for 40 years, and has raised 64 foster children. He also got into hot water already in this election for Islamophobic statements that got him removed from the Chilliwack DPAC executive. He’s the fifth member of the Trustees for Change
Willow Reichelt has been a Chilliwack School Board trustee for two terms. For five of those eight years, she was the chair or vice-chair. She grew up attending school in Chilliwack and worked as a teacher on call for 14 years. She is married with two sons. Her Facebook campaign page is TrusteeWillowReichelt
Margaret Reid is an incumbent trustee first elected to the Chilliwack School Board in 2022. She was most recently vice-chair of the board. She is a parent of a child in the Chilliwack school district, has been her child’s school’s DPAC rep and has been involved with Chilliwack Pride and Chilliwack Citizens for Change. Her website did not appear to be working as of Sept. 3, but her Facebook campaign is MargaretForTrustee
David Swankey was elected to the Chilliwack School Board in 2022 and most recently served as board chair. He is married with two school-aged children. He is heavily involved in education prior to school board involved with DPAC, the BC School Trustee Association, and he is vice-chair of the Fraser Valley Child Development Centre and sits on the board of directors for Down syndrome BC. His website is davidswankey.com
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