Chilliwack school board candidate Carin Bondar says she is suing fellow candidate Barry Neufeld after he called her 乌鸦传媒渁 striptease artist.乌鸦传媒�

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乌鸦传媒檚 running alongside, including ParentsVoice BC candidate Richard Procee.

乌鸦传媒淩ichard Procee ran against that striptease artist in the by-election four years ago,乌鸦传媒� Neufeld said. 乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淐reating lies about one乌鸦传媒檚 political opponents and using them to gain power in an election are both categorically illegal,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淏arry Neufeld has done both, and I find myself in a position with only one possible move to make.乌鸦传媒�

Neufeld乌鸦传媒檚 striptease comment stems from an educational video Bondar made in 2014 in her role as a UFV instructor.

The video was titled 乌鸦传媒極rganisms do Evolve,乌鸦传媒� 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乌鸦传媒檚 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 乌鸦传媒渃heeky way乌鸦传媒� to talk about evolution.

乌鸦传媒淚 am not a strip-tease artist, nor have I ever been one,乌鸦传媒� Bondar said. 乌鸦传媒淚 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.乌鸦传媒�

Bondar乌鸦传媒檚 lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Neufeld dated Oct. 4, suggesting Neufeld乌鸦传媒檚 comment was a deliberate attempt to damage Bondar乌鸦传媒檚 reputation and hurt her chances in the Oct. 15 municipal election.

乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�

The letter demanded an 乌鸦传媒渋mmediate, unreserved, and full public apology乌鸦传媒� and retraction.

乌鸦传媒淎nd that these be circulated, at minimum, across the same media and platforms that circulated your defamatory statement.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淲omen in politics have rights,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淲e cannot sit idly by while our political opponents make up lies to misguide voters.乌鸦传媒�

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

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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