A Chilliwack school trustee censured repeatedly by her board is pursuing a seat for the BC Conservatives, believing a win for her party gives the best opportunity to address destructive policies in schools and elsewhere.Heather Maahs was first censured last year after parents who objected to sexually explicit and gender ideological books at schools were cut off at the mic by the board chair. The board blamed Maahs for a backlash that ensued that included 400 emails to board members, and censured her on February 7, 2023..BATTLE OF THE BOOKS: Group seeks ouster of Chilliwack school chair.Late last year, Maahs posted an article about school surveys that asked students about their interests, pronouns, and names that they preferred being used that they would keep secret from parents.In response, on December 12, 2023, the board announced it would again censure Maahs, this time "in response to actions demonstrating her continued public opposition to inclusive practices that are endorsed by the Board of Education.”Maahs, a trustee since 2008 and former chair, was barred from in-camera meetings starting in mid-February because she had revealed the reason she was previously censured. The board said she had contravened rules of secrecy regarding in-camera meetings by doing so.On February 29, Maahs was nominated as the provincial Conservative candidate in Chilliwack North. In an interview with Western Standard, Maahs said she realized many of the policy levers that needed to be moved lay at the provincial level. Maahs said the provincial government needs to enshrine parental rights into legislation, set parameters on learning resources, and reinstate provincial exams."First you learn to read, and then you read to learn," Maahs said. "Right now, there's a lot of emphasis on social justice, but I think that can come later, if that's what students want to do."Maahs has been active in the party for four years. After searching in vain for a local candidate, she decided to step forward."Nobody wanted to run. And I finally realized it's because politics in the city is so polarized because of the school board, because it's just so volatile. And so I finally thought, 'You know what, I might as well do it,' because I been in the frying pan for six years, basically, and I'm probably best equipped to take the heat that's going to come."The candidate said her party's policies were an easy fit for her."I didn't find one single thing on that website that I disagreed with. That's why I when I decided to run it was like, 'Yep, I'm all in for all this stuff.'"Maahs says the public has also welcomed Conservative ideas."I've had so much positive response at the doors," Maahs said. "If I knock on, let's say 30 doors, maybe two will tell me that they're not voting Conservative."Although Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry has lifted the vaccination requirement for health care workers, Maahs said the proof of immunity Henry now requires is little better. She said the party believes in bodily autonomy and wants to ensure doctors are available."We had five emergency rooms closed over the long weekend in BC. That's outrageous," Maahs said. "Those are the things that people talk about. It's the medical situation, the economy."Maahs, who was widowed in 2009, said one-third of young British Columbians want to leave the province, including one among her three children who wants to move to Alberta."I'm a living statistic. People just can't make it here," she said. "Everything is outrageously expensive. There's no hope of owning a home, and the carbon tax is ridiculous."Signs of drug addiction are "absolutely everywhere" in Chilliwack, Maahs said, calling it a "huge problem.""I understand in the morning the police have to go around and bump everybody out of the doorways in our lovely, newly renovated downtown Chilliwack and move them along," Maahs said."It's horrendous that the BC government is giving them free drugs, which is only compounding the problem. AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] says you don't become an enabler or a codependent. That's only exacerbating the problem. They need treatment, and so the government has basically become the chief enabler of drug addicts."
