CHILLIWACK — Another trustee has resigned from the Chilliwack School Board, this time in apparent solidarity with a former colleague penalized by the BC Human Rights Tribunal.Laurie Throness announced his immediate resignation on February 26 via a public Facebook post, stating he no longer feels safe expressing his views following the tribunal's recent $750,000 ruling against former trustee Barry Neufeld..The decision, issued last week, found that Neufeld's public statements on sexual orientation and gender identity resources in schools violated the Human Rights Code by discriminating against LGBTQ teachers and exposing them to “hatred.”The tribunal ordered Neufeld to pay $750,000 in compensation for injury to the dignity, feelings, and self-respect of affected teachers.Throness cited the ruling as creating a "chill" on public discourse, writing that he could no longer perform his duties effectively.."I can no longer do my job," Throness stated. "All democratically-elected officials must feel comfortable to speak their mind without worrying about accusations of workplace discrimination."He described the decision as creating an “absolute-zero chill upon public discourse and the freedom of speech of elected trustees.”“While affirming the freedom of speech on paper, the result of the Tribunal’s decision is to destroy it,” Throness added.He referenced a specific example: “For example, in the wake of Tumbler Ridge, I wanted to call for the suspension of SOGI as a teaching resource until an inquest could determine whether it had an impact in exacerbating a young person’s mental illness, but I felt I couldn’t do that as a trustee – so I’m doing it now.”Throness previously represented Chilliwack-Kent as a BC Liberal MLA before resigning from the party caucus in October 2020.
