The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from ex-Chilliwack School Board trustee Barry Neufeld after he was found liable in a defamation suit last spring.
Neufeld has been ordered to pay $35,000 in general damages and $10,000 in punitive damages after Justice K. Michael Stephens ruled in favour of Chilliwack School Board trustee Carin Bondar in her defamation suit.
According to court documents dated Monday, Feb. 24, Neufeld argued that Stephens made an error saying Neufeld's characterization of Bondar as "that striptease artist" in a 2022 interview was defamatory. He argued that the judge ignored the "critical political context" of the comment and that it was another "in a long line of 'colourful and provocative comments" made by Neufeld.
Bondar's counter-argument was that Neufeld's "striptease" comment had nothing to do with her political views but rather "a comment about her character and suitability as a woman in public office." She added that likening a candidate for school board to a striptease artist obviously threatened her reputation.
Justice David Harris said Stephens made no reviewable errors in finding Neufeld's remarks defamatory and dismissed the appeal.
In his ruling last year, Stephens called Neufeld's comments "objectively insulting (beyond mere words of abuse that injure a plaintiff's feelings) and demeaning to Dr. Bondar, a woman who was running for school board trustee in her community." He noted Neufeld refused to apologize or retract his comment.
The comment stemmed from a 2014 science education video in which Bondar parodies the song and music video of "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, called "Organisms Do Evolve." Stephens ruled Neufeld's comments did not "give the factual context for her performance: she was clothed for the vast majority of it; the topic of the spoken words was science-themed; and she did not remove her clothing.
鈥淚n short, she was not, and did not perform as, a striptease artist in the parody video."
鈥� With files from Jennifer Feinberg
