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- By John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Feb 23, 2026 Updated Feb 23, 2026<\/li>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Barry](\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/newwesttimes.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/9\/cb\/9cb4ae4d-6e81-4311-85b9-c0eebac27c0f\/699caecbf3211.image.jpg?resize=400%2C230\")
78 year old former School Trustee Barry Neufeld arrested at Chilliwack Court House, as officer grabs handcuffs, Nov 24, 2025. Neufeld was arrested (as reported previously by The New Westminster Times<\/a><\/strong>) due to his inability to pay more than $50,000 to Chilliwack School Trustee Carin Bondar in relation to a defamation suit she brought against him. image NWT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n BC\u2019s \u201cHuman Rights\u201d Tribunal last week ordered<\/a><\/strong> former Chilliwack School Board Trustee Barry Neufeld to pay $750,000 to the Chilliwack Teachers Association over injury to the \u201cdignity, feelings and self-respect\u201d of a small but unknown number of LGBT teachers and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What vile hatred did Mr. Neufeld promote to warrant a $750,000 punishment? Did he suggest that all the gay teachers in Chilliwack should be fired? Or forced to undergo conversion therapy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-83.png\")
<\/a>Screen capture from BC Human Rights Tribunal Homepage. Image: from HRT website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Here is the first of dozens of comments made by Mr. Neufeld from 2017 to 2022, reprinted by the BC \u201cHuman Rights\u201d Tribunal in its 50,000-word, 64-page ruling<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) program instructs children that gender is not biologically determined, but is a social construct. \u2026 allowing little children to choose to change gender is nothing short of child abuse. But now the BC Ministry of Education has embraced the LGBTQ lobby and is forcing this biologically absurd theory on children in our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here is the last comment of Mr. Neufeld that the Tribunal reprinted in its lengthy decision<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026 if an anorexic person is suffering, you don\u2019t pat them on the back and say, here, here, I\u2019ll give you some diet pills, and you don\u2019t have to eat as much. Sometimes the loving thing is saying something very challenging to a person who\u2019s struggling with a problem. If an alcoholic is suffering because they can\u2019t find any booze, you don\u2019t hand them a case of beer. You tell them to, you know, buckle up and do without. Give them a cup of coffee instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other opinions expressed by Mr. Neufeld from 2017 to 2022 are like the first and last comments here above: standard, run-of-the-mill citizen opposition to radical transgender ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Screen capture of page from recent BC Human Rights Tribunal decision regarding Barry Neufeld. Image: from BC HRT website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The local teachers\u2019 union was outraged that an elected Trustee would publicly and repeatedly state his belief that there are only two sexes, that children should not be exposed to transgender ideology in schools, and that gender-confused children should be provided with compassionate help rather than with puberty blockers, opposite-sex hormones and eventual gender-reassignment surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The teachers\u2019 union found a like-minded ally in the BC Human Rights Tribunal. Both organizations fervently embrace unscientific transgender ideology. Neither organization understands that free expression is the cornerstone of a democracy that embraces a diversity of opinions, and that facilitates healthy debate about controversial issues. Like other censors throughout human history, they believe in \u201cfree speech for me, but not for thee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than seeking to persuade parents and other citizens to support SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity), the teachers\u2019 union and the \u201cHuman Rights\u201d Tribunal instead use coercive state power to silence and punish their political opponents. They use section 7 of BC\u2019s Human Rights Code<\/a><\/strong>, which prohibits \u201cdiscriminatory publications\u201d that indicate \u201cdiscrimination\u201d or even \u201can intention to discriminate\u201d against a person or group, or that is likely to expose a person or group to hatred or \u201ccontempt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 7 pertains only to speech. It does not prohibit discrimination in services, tenancies, property purchases, job ads, wages, employment and trade union membership. Section 7 applies to all speech in all public places, everywhere in BC, online and off-line. Non-criminal, non-hateful \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d speech in public is illegal in BC. Only fully private communications are exempted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Neufeld is not the first person whose basic human right to speak freely has been trampled into the ground by the Tribunal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, the Tribunal ordered political activist William Whatcott to pay $55,000 to unsuccessful NDP candidate Morgane Oger, who felt offended by a plain-spoken election flyer titled “Transgenderism vs. Truth.” The flyer included the following: \u201cBecause gender is God-given and immutable, “transgenderism” is an impossibility. A male cannot “transition” into a female, nor can a female “transition” into a male. One can only cross dress and disfigure themselves with surgery and hormones to look like the gender they are not.\u201d The Tribunal ruled that Mr. Whatcott violated section 7 of the Human Rights Code<\/em> because the flyer demonstrated \u201can intention to discriminate against Morgane Oger in a critical area of public life, namely participation in an election as a candidate for public office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barry Neufeld has been punished for expressing opinions intended to support, protect, and advocate for the well-being of young people. British Columbians who love freedom and democracy should be outraged by the Tribunal imposing its woke ideology on citizens by censoring conservative and libertarian speech. Citizens should not be punished for speaking out to protect young people from irreversible harm (such as permanent infertility) that results from unscientific transgender ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the real culprit is not the Tribunal. It\u2019s BC\u2019s Human Rights Code that makes non-criminal political speech punishable in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way to prevent further injustices of this kind is to repeal section 7 from BC\u2019s Human Rights Code<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some might argue that repealing section 7 opens the door to signage like \u201cApartments for Whites only\u201d or \u201cwomen need not apply.\u201d But signs like that are clearly prohibited by sections 8-14 of the Human Rights Code<\/em>. Sections 8-14 already outlaw discrimination in any accommodation, service or facility customarily available to the public, including hiring and employment practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Repealing section 7 would place all people in BC on an equal footing, by removing the Tribunal\u2019s power to punish speech that it disagrees with under the false pretext of \u201cpromoting human rights.\u201d The federal Criminal Co<\/em>de prohibition against the wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group (section 319) would not be impacted in any way. The amended Human Rights Code<\/em> \u2013 without section 7 \u2013 would continue to prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods and services, the same way that it does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J<\/a>ohn Carpay is the President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Featured Restore free speech in BC: Abolish section 7 of the Human Rights Code BC\u2019s \u201cHuman Rights\u201d Tribunal last week ordered former Chilliwack School Board Trustee Barry Neufeld to pay $750,000 to the Chilliwack Teachers Association over injury to the … Continue reading