Vote 2026: Religious conservatives often stick to doublespeak & dog whistles – at least Barry Neufeld was honest
With no electoral party discipline, ideology obfuscation from municipal candidates leads to an uninformed electorate
August 26, 2026
As a quintet of Christian conservatives announced Chilliwack School Board campaigns on Wednesday – even as they remained quiet about the religion or even the conservatism – it’s worth remembering that Chilliwack owes Barry Neufeld a debt of gratitude.
Actually, politically minded people across the Fraser Valley and B.C. should thank Neufeld for his histrionic burst of bigoted disinformation issued in a now infamous Facebook post nine years ago.
Shaken for years by a growing woke world surrounding him, Neufeld's cork popped on Oct. 23, 2017 with a bubbling burst of bigotry regarding the Province’s sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) anti-bullying educational resource.
What followed was insults and defamation, gnashing of teeth and political grandstanding, protests and counter-protests, legal wrangling in B.C. Supreme Court, at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada where Neufeld’s case tested our province’s relatively new anti-SLAPP legislation.
Thanks Barry, truly.
Because when he stopped sitting on his hands, as he put it, he finally told the community what he was really thinking but what he was keeping quiet about all along.
This isn't new in politics. Aggressive media coverage and acrimonious campaigns at all levels of government in all democracies lead to people digging up this comment or this photo that someone once said or appeared in. The histories of those running for office are carefully vetted by political parties. Candidates and elected officials have to be incredibly careful in front of cameras and reporters lest they issue a juicy sound bite.
In short, those with strong beliefs that are ideologically extremist or ignorant or that run counter to mainstream culture and governance in a secular society learn when to keep quiet. Talk about other topics. When pressed, obfuscate, use double-speak, loaded terms that serve as dog whistles to followers.
Ground Zero: the Chilliwack School Board
Over 16 years starting in 2009, Heather Maahs was elected as a school trustee in the Chilliwack School District five times. Around the board table, Maahs was known for her fervent focus on foundational reading skills and increased literacy in education. She was a committed school trustee properly and ably doing the job of a school trustee.
Neufeld’s 2017 tirade drew a wedge in the school board pitting conservatives against progressives. At first it was only a crack. This drew Maahs ever closer to Neufeld, probably despite her better judgment. While Neufeld was a loose cannon with little regard for logic or empathy or decency, his far right socially conservative religious views aligned with Maahs’, more or less.
If a cork popping out of sparkling wine is an apt metaphor for how Neufeld shared his histrionic homophobia and conspiracy theories with the world, for Maahs the metaphor is a pin in a tire. What she really thinks about the world slowly leaked out as activists and regular citizens shocked by Neufeld's comments grew louder and louder. Her support for a campaign to see governments run under Biblical principles along with former trustee and young-Earth creationist Darrel Furgason showed those of us locally that she had and still has a strong theocratic agenda.
Now the rest of the province knows, too. She is as pro-MAGA as any member of the BC Conservatives, incredibly to all on both sides of the legislature, elevated to Leader of the Opposition by a new party leader who has veered the promising resurgent Conservative ship so far to the right that the rats are fleeing the sinking ship one by one. As of this writing, five in two weeks, four in four days. Kamloops MLA Peter Milobar started the exodus on August 14 to sit as an independent. This week it was Delta South MLA Ian Paton who quit on Monday, then Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird on Tuesday, then on Wednesday it was Richmond Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat in the morning followed by Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day in the afternoon.
Well-known former BC Liberal MLAs who became BC Conservative organizers and donors Randy Hawes in Mission and John Les in Chilliwack both quit the party and quit donating once the divisive far right ideologue Kerry Lynne Findlay was chosen as leader.
“Some media have portrayed her as ‘MAGA light,’’ Hawes wrote on a social media post on Tuesday. “Her choice of interim leader seems to amplify that.”
Translation: If you didn’t already think Findlay was a far right MAGA sycophant, the fact that she made Maahs party leader who is objectively one proves it.
So now we know what Maahs actually thinks as we never did until the very end of her school board terms. And when people such as Randy Hawes and John Les and several others committed to a BC Conservative Party jump ship because a person is too far right, that is epic far right.
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Back to local politics
With summer drawing to a close and local elections in B.C. now less than two months away, candidates are coming out of the woodwork to announce plans to run for city councils and school boards.
Because some on the far right and the far left dislike yours truly – both for the same pesky reason: inconvenient honesty – I'm not the most comprehensive source for facts or rumours about who will be on the ballot.
So far, all I know for certain is the incumbents David Swankey and Margaret Reid are running for re-election.
Richard Procee told me in casual conversation at Canadian Tire that he was not running.
I asked Laurie Throness who resigned from school board in February (because he no longer felt “safe” expressing himself) if he would run again. His blunt if polite reply: “After some thought I don't want to engage politically with you.” I’m willing to bet anyone a nickel that he’ll be on the ballot for mayor or city council this time.
As for incumbents Willow Reichelt, Teri Westerby and/or Carin Bondar, I don't know. Based on social media comments recently from the first two that mind-bogglingly blamed me for far right and far left divisiveness in local politics, I don’t think so. (I'm not so vain as to think anyone cares what I think let alone makes decisions based upon it.)
As for newbies, long-time Chilliwack District Parent Advisory Council chair and advocate for diversity, special education and inclusive education Katie Bartel will be on the ballot.
As will Leah Kelley who has a doctorate in education, has taught at all levels for 30 years, and has expertise in inclusive education and neurodiversity.
This brings us to the “Trustees for Change,” an informal slate of five independent candidates who formally announced their campaign on Wednesday.
As someone who has now been in Chilliwack for 20 years having written hundreds of stories, literally millions of words in print, I admit to being somewhat surprised to recognize not one of these five names: Barbara Bednarski, Michael Carter, Cary Moore, Marina Garman and Hugh Hamilton.
As for referring to them as a quintet of quietly religious conservatives as I did above, I don’t actually know what any of them believe in any detail but bear with me. Their bios went live around noon on Wednesday so people can read up on them.
Both there and from Facebook profiles and Google searches, it's easy to find breadcrumbs of conservative Christianity, not that there’s anything wrong with that. None of them are particularly overt about it. I suppose Neufeld’s fate has theocrats and right-wing religious folks publicly trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, wondering if they should return to a hand-sitting time or follow the post-2017 Neufeld roadmap and let it all out.
Here is an admittedly superficial look at the five candidates, some of which is leading many people (it's not just me) to believe this is indeed a conservative Christian slate.
First up, the Venn diagram of all five of these good folks overlap in the middle with one important name: Tera Procee. Tera's husband Richard Procee I’ve known for as long as I’ve been here. He is funny and boisterous, brash and positive, and even when he and I disagree, which is almost always, it’s smiles and respectful bro back-slapping. But he is definitely a conservative Christian and would not deny it. Tera is not only behind the opening of a Christian book store next to Hofstede’s, her fingerprints are all over the Trustees for Change.
- Cary Moore is the least subtle of the five. He says he is Métis, a resident of Chilliwack for 40 years, has raised 64 foster children, and he’s a realtor. He also refers to himself as “conservative with a strong faith,” and wants to put “parental rights” (among other things) above “ideology.” For those who are unfamiliar, the term “parental rights” is a long established movement that most of the general public overlooks because of the innocuous name. But it is a dog whistle to far right religious activists and supporters signalling a movement that battles acceptance of LGBTQ kids in the school system and even fights against respecting their rights.
- Michael Carter is a lawyer working for a White Rock firm. He lives in Yarrow with his wife and four children, he says. His company bio says he’s a “people person.” Interestingly, he’s also an ostrich person having been lead counsel for Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood where an avian flu outbreak led to an order from the CFIA to destroy the birds, which he fought against. Putting a fine point on it, Carter says he “epitomizes what is most distinctly Chilliwack: the understanding that faith and family are not adversarial to education.”
- Marina Garmon 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. Her direct connection to the other four is hard to understand on the surface. Except for, wait for it, she is active in the “movement for parental rights.” Please see above.
- Hugh Hamilton is an executive coach involved in corporate leadership development. He also worked in some interesting roles inside the Vancouver Whitecaps organization. Is he conservative and/or Christian? He’s not overtly saying but he's the warm body next to the above three, and we should nudge his circle on the Venn diagram closer to the conservative religious Procee family since he did do work for Hofstede’s. And, well, he's here.
- Last but not least is Barbara Bednarski, a retired elementary school teacher. Her teaching experience is from another century, she explains. She taught in Northern Ontario “in the 20th century,” according to her bio. She also fibbed on her Facebook profile listing her birthday, I assume. If not, while she looks older than the others out of the five, born in January 1926, she turned 100 years of age eight months ago?. Is she conservative and/or Christian? Not obviously. But as for conservative, but in one of two of her last seven public Facebook posts, it's a screenshot of a People’s Party of Canada attack on Justin Trudeau. In another, she shared a YouTube video asking the important question: “Are we facing an extinction level event? The complete surrender of our lives to a digital matrix controlled and operated by the deep state?”
Could be an interesting election as we await for more candidates for school board to emerge. Stay tuned for a rundown of city council soon.
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Paul J. Henderson
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