Chilliwack B.C. school trustee Barry Neufeld is the target of a new petition to remove him from his position after a comment he made on Facebook Thursday night.
Neufeld, who has made headlines in the past for his stance on issues relating to gender identity, transgender people and SOGI 123, was talking about the local newspaper, the Chilliwack Progress.
In a now-deleted post, Neufeld said the paper should be called the Chilliwack Regress and then took aim at the three reporters, calling them the R-word slur used against people with intellectual disabilities.
He later changed it to “radicals” and has since deleted the post completely.
Fellow school trustee Willow Reichelt tweeted Thursday night that it is “unacceptable for anyone to be using the R-word in 2020 and it is absolutely outrageous for a school trustee to be doing so.”
It is unacceptable for anyone to be using the R word in 2020, and it is absolutely outrageous for a school trustee to be doing so. Please know that the Chilliwack Board of Education and our staff are dedicated to creating safe and inclusive schools for all students.
— Willow Reichelt (@WillowReichelt) November 20, 2020
A petition was also started Thursday night to remove Neufeld from office. The petition now has more than 1,200 signatures at the time of publication.
Neufeld was recently honoured with a community hero award.
He won his community award, presented by Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl, for “going above and beyond to make our community a better place during the COVID-19 pandemic.” It thanks Neufeld for making a difference in the lives of people who live in the community.
In a statement to Global News, Strahl said he started the awards to “encourage members of the community to nominate those who went above and beyond to help and care for others.”
He said everyone who was nominated received an award, including Neufeld and Reichelt.
“These awards in no way serve to endorse any recipient’s personal views, including those of Mr. Neufeld,” Strahl said in the statement.
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Chilliwack school trustee censured over transgender coronavirus conspiracy post
Neufeld has previously come under fire, namely when he compared gender transitioning to “child abuse” and called gender confusion a “sexual addiction.”
Global News is reaching out to Neufeld for comment.
More to come.