Former B.C. school trustee's 'strip-tease artist' remark was defamatory, judge rules
A controversial former school trustee from B.C.'s Fraser Valley who described a political rival as a "strip-tease artist" during an election campaign has been ordered to pay her $45,000 for defamation.
Barry Neufeld's remark about Dr. Carin Bondar was an "effort to discredit her" that "crossed the line," according to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Stephens.
"These defamatory words were objectively insulting and demeaning to Dr. Bondar, who was an elected school board trustee and a university adjunct instructor," Stephens wrote in his April 11 decision, which was published online Friday.
Neufeld made the comment during an online interview in September 2022 – while both he and Bondar were both running for re-election to the Chilliwack School Board – referencing a science-themed music video she had made parodying the Miley Cyrus song “Wrecking Ball,” which featured a brief shot of Bondar nude, from the back, wearing only a pair of boots.
Bondar won her seat back the following month, while Neufeld was voted out of office.
The defence
Part of Neufeld’s defence was that his remark was substantially true.
His response to Bondar's lawsuit includes a definition of "strip-tease artist" from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which reads: "An act or dance in which a person gradually removes her clothing piece by piece in a seductive or provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of music."
But Stephens disagreed that the term was an accurate characterization of the short segment of Bondar's video in which she appeared nude, particularly because Neufeld had not provided any further context about the parody during his online interview.
"Factually, her clothes were removed," the justice wrote. "(But) she was clothed for the vast majority of it; the topic of the spoken words was science-themed; and she did not remove her clothing. In short, she was not, and did not perform as, a strip-tease artist."
Stephens noted Neufeld’s line of argument – known as a justification defence – can be successful even if a statement contains "minor inaccuracies," but not if the overall impression is both misleading and potentially damaging to someone's reputation, which he found was the case with the former trustee’s comment about Bondar.
Stephens also rejected an argument from Neufeld that his remark was an opinion protected under the legal principle of "fair comment," which can apply to “honestly held views based on proven facts,” but only if the factual basis is understood by those listening.
While Bondar’s parody video, titled “Organisms Do Evolve,” had been referenced in news articles – and on a billboard attacking her during a previous by-election – Stephens found Neufeld had failed to prove “on a balance of probabilities that the factual basis for his comment … was so notorious as to be already or readily understood by the audience.”
The defamation
To prove Neufeld's comment was defamatory, Stephens said Bondar had to demonstrate it would "tend to lower (her) reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person."
In her lawsuit, Bondar said she personally sees "nothing wrong with strip-tease artistry" – telling the court that decreasing stigma around healthy sexuality has been a major focus of her career as a science educator – but she argued there remains a "widely held societal view that strip-tease artistry is dishonourable or shameful, and particularly that it is inappropriate of a candidate for public office and a school trustee."
Stephens agreed that the remark had a defamatory meaning – based on "popular innuendo," or the way the words would likely be interpreted by the average person – and that it "genuinely threatened" Bondar's reputation.
He awarded Bondar $35,000 in general damages for "anxiety, upset and reputational harm" caused by the comment, plus $10,000 in punitive damages as an additional deterrent against Neufeld’s behaviour.
But the justice declined to award aggravated damages, which would have required proving Neufeld was motivated by "actual malice” during his 2022 interview.
Neufeld testified that he honestly believed his comment about Bondar was truthful at the time, and Stephens accepted that was the case – even if it reflected what the justice described as “reckless indifference to the truth.”
"A subjective honest belief negates the possibility of finding actual malice on Mr. Neufeld's part," Stephens wrote.
It’s unclear whether Neufeld will appeal the decision. The former trustee has not responded to a request for comment from CTV News.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
'What have we done?' Lawyer describes shock at possible role in Trump's 2016 victory
A lawyer who negotiated a pair of hush money deals at the centre of Donald Trump's criminal trial recalled Thursday his "gallows humor" reaction to Trump's 2016 election victory and the realization that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to the win.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
'Giant-killer' Kazushi Kimura to race in Kentucky Derby this weekend: 'I'm representing Canada and Japan'
Six years ago, at age 18, Kazushi Kimura left his home and family behind in Hokkaido, Japan to chase a dream. This weekend, he'll ride in the Kentucky Derby.
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration.