Vote Paul Henderson for Chilliwack School Board to support teachers, focus on priorities & end divisive politics: Local Election 2026

On October 17, help make school board boring again, tell trustees to stay in their lanes and fix what can be fixed

September 19, 2026
*Updated several times

If you say the three words “Chilliwack School Board” almost anywhere in B.C. to anyone paying attention to politics in this province, you’ll get an eye roll or a comment along the lines of “Oh, ya, them.”

The reason many people are aware of the Chilliwack School Board is because of newsworthy incidents of bad behaviour and histrionics from former trustees.

You know, the now infamous Barry Neufeld and to a lesser extent, former trustee and young-Earth creationist Darrell Furgason and of course, your own Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs. 

The latter of these was censured by her fellow trustees three times in her final months in office before she stepped down to run for the BC Conservatives. 

The melodrama with these far right religious extremists was kicked off in 2017 in a now infamous Facebook post by Neufeld where he wrapped himself up in a self-appointed hero’s cape to declare he was going to save the children from the provincial government’s evil and immoral ways. That is to say, he got his knickers in a twist about SOGI 123, a teaching resource for educators to use when needed to fight back against bullying and ignorance about the LGBTQ community. 

This then went on tediously all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada with Neufeld’s lawsuit against then BCTF president Glen Hansman who called the long-time trustee a bigoted homophobe. The case now serves as an important precedent testing British Columbia’s anti-SLAPP legislation, Neufeld an example of what not to do when you quack like a duck and get called a duck.

All of that is to say that what Neufeld and Furgason and Maahs were so upset about because acceptance of the LGBTQ community violated their specific Biblical perspective on life has nothing much to do with the role of a trustee in a board of education in British Columbia.

Many of the people running in this election in 2026 are already expressing views that show what poor understanding there is about the role of a trustee. Candidate Marina Garmon, for example, told LGBTQ advocate Wilbur Turner who asked her questions that her focus is on “education for all at their level,” “support for front-line employees” and “working hands-on with students.” 

Two out of three is bad. A trustee’s role has nothing whatsoever to do with “working hands on with students.”

As former and current trustees across B.C. such as Neufeld and Maahs do not understand, and as all too many candidates for the job do not understand, a school trustee in B.C. does not get involved in the big picture regarding Ministry of Education policy and/or curriculum nor do they get involved with kids or teachers in the classroom. 

Yes, I’m running for school board

It was 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, when I opened a file to prepare a story about the finalized list of candidates for Chilliwack City Council and the Chilliwack School Board. I looked over that list of candidates of people looking to be among the seven trustees on the board of education for School District 33. I looked and I looked and realized that – with all due respect to all of them – I didn’t see seven electable people. 

The good news is that of the previous board, the only three who were truly suitable for the job are the only three running for re-election with the more extremist right wing and radical left former trustees, thankfully, stepping aside.

That means four new people (at least) will be elected this time. Out of those on the list, I simply could not possibly see who that would be. So, on a whim, I decided that since I’ve covered school board and city council for two decades, read more agendas and minutes and attended more meetings than probably any of the candidates, including the incumbents, maybe I could do the job.

The reality is that I know I can do the job, it’s just not something I ever particularly wanted to do. If this many former, current and potential school board trustees are going to continue to talk in code and dog whistles about “parental rights” and LGBTQ teachers and what’s happening in the classroom, maybe it’s time for some of the adults in the room to take over. 

So I downloaded the nomination papers last Friday, called a couple of friends for signatures, and filed just before the 4 p.m. deadline.

And here we are. 

Why should you vote for me?

Maybe you shouldn’t. 

I only hope that because I have somewhat of a voice in this community after my years in the local news media, maybe people will listen to me. if not listen to me, at least hear me and see what I post and share, pay attention, and vote. Not necessarily for me. 

If I stir any voters from apathy because my candidacy enrages them such that they look into who to vote for instead of me, great.

If folks know me and respect me and are similarly awoken from ambivalence about municipal politics enough to research the candidates and vote, even if not for me, also great.

Please just vote, please.

What do I mean by ‘boring’?

What is going to be a catchphrase in my campaign and many people have heard me say in the past is “Let’s make school board boring again.”

That sounds funny, silly, whatever. But here’s what I mean. 

Advocacy Canada founder Wilbur Turner wrote a couple of Substack posts recently about the so-called “Trustees for Change,” the slate of five unknown candidates running in the Chilliwack school board election backed by the Chilliwack Alliance Church and others. Turner is quite active on X/Twitter and has been a harsh critic of identity politics in the province for many years. He was particularly loud in response to the Barry Neufeld debacles. I messaged him in response to his piece about this slate and specifically Garman who has posted anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. The point of his latest piece was to reiterate what I’ve been saying above, that too many people don’t know what the trustee’s role is. I told him I agreed and shared an op-ed I wrote on the topic exactly four years ago.

I also told him I was going to be a candidate.

“School boards have become a hot mess over the past few years as you know,” Turner said. “They do need to become boring again. Good luck with your campaign.”

By boring I don’t mean uninteresting. For those who are involved in education or who are parents of school-aged children, the nuances of school board are of course interesting. My glib use of the term “boring” is to suggest trustees need to simply focus on the areas of influence that is part of the job description. Steer clear of trying to get headlines with exaggerated nonsense about what is happening in schools or by jumping up with equal histrionics in opposition as a couple of former trustees on the left liked to do. 

The role of a trustee, the job of a member of the board of education, is not – or should not be – particularly newsworthy or exciting or out of the ordinary.

The specific duties of trustees are outlined in detail in the School Act, but generally, according to the B.C. School Trustees Association (BCSTA), the job is to be financial stewards, establish strategic direction, and represent the employer. They are tasked with acting as community leaders to ensure students have opportunities to reach their potential and their goals.

According to the BCSTA the primary functions of boards include:

• Setting local policy for the effective and efficient operation of schools; 
• Employing the staff necessary for school district operations;
• Establishing conditions of employment for employees; 
• Preparing and approving the school district’s operating budgets and capital plans; and
• Hearing appeals from parents and students.

Extremely important work, but much of it should not be newsworthy, certainly not titillating.

Make no mistake, with Neufeld, Furgason and Maahs finally gone off the school board, and with the two religious conservative trustees who replaced them not stirring the pot much (Laurie Throness quit before he got in trouble for doing so), the Chilliwack School Board has done a great job in recent years getting back to the work at hand, particularly under the chairing of David Swankey as well as Willow Reichelt before him.

I don’t pretend to be a hero stepping forward to keep this direction going but if not me specifically, I just hope voters keep their minds focused on the actual role of a school trustee, and those candidates who are focused on student achievement, diversity and inclusion, policy, representing the community, oversight and accountability, and controlling the annual budget.

Only candidates focused on those topics and not those spewing inflammatory rhetoric disconnected from reality should be among the seven chosen on Oct. 17. 

I can certainly be one of those if you pick me. If you don’t pick me, please pick seven who will.

-30-

Want to support independent journalism?
Consider becoming a paid subscriber or make a one-time donation so I can continue this work.

Paul J. Henderson
pauljhenderson@gmail.com
facebook.com/PaulJHendersonJournalist
instagram.com/wordsarehard_pjh
x.com/PeeJayAitch
wordsarehard-pjh.bsky.social