On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Canada will consider whether a defamation suit against the former head of the British Columbia Teachers Federation can proceed, in a case that could have large repercussions for those opposed to pro-transgender school materials..The lawsuit was launched following a series of events that began in October 2017 when Chilliwack school board trustee Barry Neufeld wrote in a Facebook post,.“At the risk of being labeled a bigoted homophobe,…I agree with the College of paediatricians that allowing little children choose to change gender is nothing short of child abuse. But now the BC Ministry of Education [has] embraced the LGBTQ lobby and is forcing this biologically absurd theory on children in our schools.”.Glen Hansman, then president of the BC Teachers Federation, condemned Neufeld in comments to the media over the following twelve months, saying his comments were “bigoted”, “transphobic,” and “promoted hatred.” .In court documents, Neufeld claimed he "suffered damages to his reputation…indignity, personal harassment, stress, anxiety, and mental and emotional distress.".Hansman tried to strike down the lawsuit soon after B.C.’s Protection of Public Participation Act came into effect. Justice A Ross of the B.C. Supreme Court sided with Hansman in a decision on November 26, 2019. This was overruled at the B.C. Court of Appeal on June 9, 2021. On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) granted Hansman an appeal. .The PPPA applies retroactively to legal actions started on or after May 15, 2018, which brings Neufeld’s suit within its scope. In an interview with Western Standard, Neufeld said he found some irony in how Hansman was using the legislation..“The legislation was to protect little guys, and he was able to use it to his advantage, and he's the head of a 45,000-member union. But when I originally came out, saying that encouraging children to transition is child abuse, the media went crazy. And he went public,” Neufeld said..“The teachers union took me to the Human Rights Tribunal and said that I was a danger to their staff. That was four and a half years ago. And the Human Rights Tribunal doesn't know what to do with that complaint because they can't come up with a name of anybody who's actually been harmed by me. So unlike a lot of conservative activists, I went on the offensive, I sued Glen Hansman for defamation. And it seems to be pretty clear cut.”.In an interview, Hansman’s lawyer Paul Jaffe said cases for murder are thrown out if they aren’t heard after 30 months, unlike the Human Rights Complaint. He said the PPPA wasn’t in effect when Neufeld launched his defamation case, but was passed just in time for Hansman..“Here you have the little guy, David, the financially modest, semi-retired, solitary, politically incorrect trustee out in Chilliwack, who can in no way imaginable constitute any sort of threat to the freedom of expression of the president of the BCTF, or any such other powerful party. It's ludicrous to suggest that a guy like Neufeld threatens people like Glen Hansman. It's just absurd,” Jaffe said in an interview with Western Standard..“But next thing you know, two weeks before we were going to even get [Hansman’s] documents produced, the NDP government in Victoria enacted the [PPP] Act, which then allowed Hansman to bring an application. So a brand new piece of legislation is now put before a judge whose very first day on the bench is a brand new Trudeau appointment. And the effect [was] Neufeld couldn't get the document.”.Jaffe said it is rare that the SCC grants a leave to appeal the way it did for Hansman. The SCC’s self-declared “progressive” stance concerns him..“God help us it's gone as woke as it appears to be going. Anybody with any delusions of civil debate on these contentious matters is going to be disappointed. It's not going to happen. I don't know where we're headed. If the courts aren't there for people like Neufeld, I think we're in a lot of trouble,” Jaffe said..“We want it to go to trial. Hansman has no defense. Hansman is toast the second Hansman takes the stand.”.Neufeld is fundraising for his legal fight through a GoFundMe page against what Jaffe says is a broad taxpayer-funded opposition..“Neufeld commenced his claim against Hansman because he was a prominent member of a mob of angry activists who targeted Neufeld through the media to basically punish him for speaking out and to stifle public debate on the issue of whether gender ideology should be promoted in the schools under this program called SOGI [Sexual Orientation Gender Identity]," Jaffe said..“Neufeld has said, ‘Let's slow down. We've never had any sort of public debate in British Columbia at all on the question of whether this program should be promoted in the schools. And if so, what might be more age appropriate for the younger kids. Should we be sexualizing them with questions of where they might sit on the what's called the gender spectrum?’”.The Tavistock Gender Clinic in England and Finland and Sweden are now putting off gender transitions until the age of 18. By contrast, Jaffe, says, B.C. continues to endorse them..Jaffe said teachers and educators pushing the ideology in schools are creating a divide between parents and their children..Neufeld believes that if he loses in court, Christian school teaches and private schools are vulnerable, as are parents who oppose transgender medical interventions for their children..“If a kid comes home from school and says, ‘Mommy or Daddy, I'm tired of being a girl. I want to be a boy. Will you put me on puberty blockers?’ And the parent says 'Oh, no, that's a stupid idea. You were born a girl. You're always going to be a girl,' those parents could lose custody of their children,” Neufeld said..The case will be heard Tuesday, just four days before Chilliwack voters decide whether to re-elect Neufeld to another term as trustee.
