CANCELLED BY THE WOKE MOB, VINDICATED BY VOTERS: Sylvan Lake coach makes comeback as town councillor

Sometimes, good guys really do finish first.Taylor “Teej” Johannesson, the former longtime football defensive coordinator at H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake who was fired from his position over a social media post, has traded the football field for town council.In September, the Western Standard broke the story of Johannesson posting a TikTok video that led to his dismissal from the school.In the nearly five-minute video under the handle AntiWoke55555, Johannesson warned that “trans ideology” was being pushed on children unnecessarily, citing concerns about mental health and recent violent incidents, including a mass shooting in Minneapolis.H.J. Cody High School Principal Alex Lambert responded by firing Johannesson, citing a violation of the Education Act.At the time, Johannesson’s wife, also a teacher at the school, called the decision “absurd” and said it would humiliate her among colleagues.The dismissal sparked a wave of community support, with parents, students, and local residents rallying behind Johannesson.A fundraising campaign was even launched on GiveSendGo to support him.Now, Johannesson has returned to the spotlight, vindicated, after winning a seat on the Sylvan Lake town council as one of its newly elected councillors in the last municipal meeting..FILDEBRANDT: Alberta football coach sacked for his views on trans ideology.Catching up with Johannesson at the Alberta Municipalities Convention and Trade Show in Calgary on Friday, the Western Standard asked him how his path to office was influenced by the fallout from the school controversy.“I actually ran for council four years ago purely on an anti-vaccine platform,” Johannesson said.“I was so pissed off at the mandates, so I filed my papers, had no idea what I was doing, and almost got in. That experience showed me that if I put in some time and research, I could probably get elected.”Around the time the controversy with the high school unfolded, Johannesson considered running for the school board but decided against it, citing the likelihood of a difficult campaign among voters who were predominantly teachers.Instead, he thought he’d give town council a shot, running as a Christian conservative, openly sharing his values and beliefs with the electorate.“I'm going to run as a Christian conservative, so everyone knows who I am and what my beliefs, morals, and values are, so that way, if I get elected, I could just keep being that way,” he said."I got so much hate and slander from people, including from the school that were mad because the school had negative attention, but none of it mattered, because people saw that I was someone who was willing to stand up for the truth, to say this is what you’re getting, which I think is rare in politics."He also credits the traction he received from the Western Standard’s articles with helping to get him into his current position..EXCLUSIVE: Fired Alberta football coach sends legal notice to school demanding job back.“That school tried to bury me, and instead they lifted me up,” Johannesson said.“So from fired football coach to town councillor in two months was pretty good, and I’ve got to thank the Western Standard because you guys were the first ones to pick that story up, and you guys were great across the line. I really appreciate that.”Johannesson described his election as a personal vindication, stating how his wife started crying when he got the news that he had been elected.“She said, ‘You’re vindicated — the good wins now. God closed one door and opened a bigger one,’” he said.Looking ahead to the demands of his new role, Johannesson plans to tackle local issues like tourism management and municipal revenue.He highlighted the challenges of maintaining Sylvan Lake’s beaches, where high visitor traffic creates costs for residents.He also proposed measures such as increasing parking fees and implementing a modest accommodation tax on short-term rentals to fund cleanup and maintenance.“It's a low accommodation tax, where people that come and stay in Airbnbs and stay in our hotels pay a 2% tax that comes back to the town so we can actually clean up our beach, because currently, it's the town of Sylvan Lake residents paying for the tourists to use our beach,” he stated.“The Government of Alberta wants to talk about red tape reduction and being handcuffed by the federal government. Well, we're handcuffed by the provincial government. There's so much red tape, we need to be able to take advantage of our talent, of our beach, and the million visitors that we get every year. So, that's one of my big priorities for Sylvan Lakers.”When asked about the possibility of a future mayoral run, Johannesson remained open."I'm going to try to get on a committee for Alberta Municipalities so I can advocate more for the people of Sylvan Lake," he said.“I said I am only going to run two terms as a councillor max, because I think councillors that go three, four, five terms are not healthy for democracy.‘Maybe next time I go for mayor or maybe it's provincial government. I'm going to really see where God takes me and where the doors open.“Everything is on the table.”

CANCELLED BY THE WOKE MOB, VINDICATED BY VOTERS: Sylvan Lake coach makes comeback as town councillor

Related Stories