Chilliwack school board candidate Carin Bondar says she is suing fellow candidate Barry Neufeld after he called her 害羞草研究所渁 striptease artist.害羞草研究所�

Neufeld appeared on the Sept. 21 Action4Canada Empower Hour, an online Zoom meeting that is open to anyone. He talked about the six trustee candidates he害羞草研究所檚 running alongside, including ParentsVoice BC candidate Richard Procee.

害羞草研究所淩ichard Procee ran against that striptease artist in the by-election four years ago,害羞草研究所� Neufeld said. 害羞草研究所淲e thought he was going to win but something funny happened with the mail-in ballots. In the walk-in polls he won, but when they counted the mail-in ballots, suddenly this extremely left wing person got in.害羞草研究所�

Bondar addressed the striptease comment in a news release sent out Oct. 11.

害羞草研究所淐reating lies about one害羞草研究所檚 political opponents and using them to gain power in an election are both categorically illegal,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淏arry Neufeld has done both, and I find myself in a position with only one possible move to make.害羞草研究所�

Neufeld害羞草研究所檚 striptease comment stems from an educational video Bondar made in 2014 in her role as a UFV instructor.

The video was titled 害羞草研究所極rganisms do Evolve,害羞草研究所� and it was about natural selection. A parody of a song by Miley Cyrus, Bondar sits on a wrecking ball as it swings back and forth, dressed in a white tank top, underwear and boots.

In the Cyrus version, Miley licks a sledgehammer. Bondar licks a microscope, and at one point she is nude except for her boots.

During the 2021 by-election, held to fill a vacancy after former trustee Dan Coulter was elected to the BC legislature, Bondar害羞草研究所檚 opponents zeroed in that video.

The video is still online. Bondar has never denied it was provocative and she has always defended it as a 害羞草研究所渃heeky way害羞草研究所� to talk about evolution.

害羞草研究所淚 am not a strip-tease artist, nor have I ever been one,害羞草研究所� Bondar said. 害羞草研究所淚 am currently a full-time instructor in the Biology Department and the School of Land Use and Environmental Change at the University of the Fraser Valley.害羞草研究所�

Bondar害羞草研究所檚 lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Neufeld dated Oct. 4, suggesting Neufeld害羞草研究所檚 comment was a deliberate attempt to damage Bondar害羞草研究所檚 reputation and hurt her chances in the Oct. 15 municipal election.

害羞草研究所淲e have advised our client that the courts would have no difficulty in concluding that your unfounded and false statement was made with malice in an attempt to injure Ms. Bondar and that your statement constitutes the tort of defamation.害羞草研究所�

The letter demanded an 害羞草研究所渋mmediate, unreserved, and full public apology害羞草研究所� and retraction.

害羞草研究所淎nd that these be circulated, at minimum, across the same media and platforms that circulated your defamatory statement.害羞草研究所�

Bondar said there was no response from Neufeld, and she is going ahead with a defamation suit.

害羞草研究所淲omen in politics have rights,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淲e cannot sit idly by while our political opponents make up lies to misguide voters.害羞草研究所�

Neufeld did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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