Two B.C. Conservative MLAs who voted against banning disruptive protests around schools are more interested in spreading “angry, Trump style politics” than keeping kids safe, according to B.C. education minister Lisa Beare.
Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs and Abbotsford West MLA Korky Neufeld reportedly voted Wednesday night against continuing a protest-free buffer zone around schools, breaking away from their B.C. Conservative colleagues who voted for the proposed Safe Access to Schools Amendment Act, according the April 2 release from the NDP government caucus.
“This bill is essential to protecting students and teachers from harassment and ensuring our kids feel safe and welcomed in schools,” Minister Beare said.
“Even if you disagree on a policy, it’s never ok to target students and teachers or disrupt learning environments. The B.C. Conservatives continue to show that they’re more interested in spreading angry Trump-style politics than protecting kids.”
That political bent “would take us backwards and leave us more divided,” Beare said.
Deputy government house leader Ravi Parmar posted a photo of the two MLAs in the legislature, asking why the two would not want to protect kids from “disruptive protests.”
“Protecting students should never be political,” Parmar fumed. “Is this where a new faction of the BC Conservatives is headed?”
The release said the Safe Access to Schools Amendment Act is an extension of a 2024 bill establishing 20-metre buffer zones at schools, “which became necessary after dozens of protests outside schools that targeted students and teachers and disrupted classroom learning.”
MLAs Neufeld and Maahs avoided voting with their colleagues on this occasion but also voted against the resolution meant to affirm the Human Rights Code.
Maahs has broken with some or all of her colleagues on at least seven other occasions the release said, and listed them.
The MLA was one of only two members of her party to vote for OneBC’s bill to ban land acknowledgements, and skipped the vote on their bill to repeal National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, they said.
She showed support for staffer Lindsay Shepherd after she was fired for calling Orange Shirt Day a “disgrace,” and the MLA hosted an event at the legislature for the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA), which has called homosexuality “immoral.”
Maah stayed out of the house while the rest of her colleagues voted to affirm the Human Rights Code and Tribunal.
She has defended Barry Neufeld, and repeated his suggestion comparing trans people to sex offenders.
She disobeyed an order not to attend a OneBC event with anti-trans activist Billboard Chris and was one of five MLAs to vote against condemning Trump’s tariffs.
Maahs has described Pride parades as “deviant behaviour.”