Controversial Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld set the bar lower than ever this weekend with a COVID-19 transgender conspiracy theory social media post attacking Canada鈥檚 chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam.

Neufeld received a huge amount amount of backlash for the Saturday Facebook post, one that he removed from his page on Sunday.

School trustess have the obligation to proactively ensure safe and inclusive school environments for all students - including LGBTQ+ youth. Trustees are similarly obliged as an employer.

Continued bigotted and hateful comments by a trustee in Chilliwack have no place in K-12.

鈥� Glen Hansman (@glenhansman)

In the post, Neufeld shared a link going around social media, and said he wondered about who was 鈥減erpetrating all this fear over the dreaded Corona Virus? [sic].鈥�

He blamed the World Health Organization (WHO) 鈥渢he same outfit that claims easy access to abortion is a human right, and is promoting mandated compressive sexuality education for little kids that gender is NOT binary: pre pubescent children should be allowed to choose their gender and sterilize themselves.鈥�

Then Neufeld 鈥� who has been controversial for several years in Chilliwack for his aggressive anti-LGBTQ statements, calling an anti-bullying program the product of 鈥渞adical cultural nihilists鈥� 鈥� turned his sights on Canada鈥檚 chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam suggesting she was 鈥渟uspected鈥� of being Transgender!鈥�

鈥淚f this person, who has spent a major portion of their life deceiving people as to who she/he truly is and is now a major player in the corrupt World Health Organization, why should we believe anything he/she says?鈥�

B.C. Minister of Education Rob Fleming told media outlets on Sunday that he鈥檚 prepared to notify the province鈥檚 human rights commissioner about the incident on Monday.

Neufeld has made several bigoted comments about LGBTQ students and their families over the years, and has come under harsh criticism from several corners. This latest post might be a step too far, even for him.

鈥淪o this is just more recklessness and an even higher level of being unhinged, given this trustee鈥檚 history of making inflammatory, derogatory and hateful comments,鈥� Fleming told Global News.

On Monday, Fleming called Neufeld鈥檚 comments bigoted and dangerous.

鈥淭his is not the first time he has expressed crazy conspiratorial views,鈥� he said in a CBC Radio interview. 鈥淏ut in the middle of a pandemic, this is even more reprehensible.鈥�

Online response to his post in Chilliwack was harsh from some corners, measured from others.

Trustee Willow Reichelt said it was important for public officials to share accurate information during this global pandemic, and not attempt to undermine public confidence in the WHO and Canada鈥檚 public health officials.

She also addressed Neufeld鈥檚 anti-LGBTQ comments.

鈥淚t is never okay to suggest that transgender people are not in fact the gender they identify with,鈥� she posted. 鈥淚t is also completely unacceptable to suggest that being transgender would somehow make someone less credible or less capable of doing their job.鈥�

Neufeld has been in the news for years for comments he made in 2017. In late 2019 he said he filed an appeal to a BC Supreme Court ruling after his lawsuit against former BCTF president Glen Hansman was rejected. In that case the judge followed the relatively new anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) legislation, which shuts down lawsuits aimed to stop criticism of public officials.

鈥� READ MORE:

Neufeld said he was defamed by Hansman, but the judge agreed the criticism fell under the anti-SLAPP legislation, as Neufeld prefaced his now notorious anti-LGBTQ rant with: 鈥淎t the risk of being labelled a bigoted homophobe鈥︹��, which was enough to, in part, convince the judge that the elected officials should have known he鈥檇 be subject to some criticism.

By Monday afternoon, Neufeld had not responded to an emailed request to comment on the backlash his Facebook post has received.

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