Chilliwack North MLA since 2024 and interim leader of the Official Opposition from June to September 2026, running again for the Conservatives.
Heather Maahs won Chilliwack North in 2024 after serving as a Chilliwack school trustee from 2008. In 2026 she questioned the government on child care as the Conservative critic, spoke and voted against the freedom of information changes in Bill 9, and led the Official Opposition from June to September. On October 1 and 2, 2026 the BC NDP called on her party to drop her as a candidate over remarks she made in 2022. Interim leader Lorne Doerkson said he does not share that view and that she remains a candidate.
A researched record of Heather Maahs's 14 commitments, 25 recorded votes and legislature actions from 2025 and 2026, 21 public statements and speeches, 5 accountability entries and 14 news items. Most come from the legislature record, caucus releases and local reporting.
No campaign event for Heather Maahs was confirmed by an organizer on 2026-10-03. No all-candidates meeting for Chilliwack North was found. The dates below are voting days.
Checked October 3, 2026 · All event times are Pacific time. Recheck the organizer before travelling.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Heather Maahs
Heather Maahs is the Conservative Party of BC candidate in Chilliwack North on Elections BC's list for the general election of October 24, 2026. She won the district in 2024 with 11,776 votes, 54.58% of the valid vote, according to the Elections BC statement of votes. The statement marks BC NDP candidate Dan Coulter, who received 8,125 votes, as the sitting member at that time.
The Chilliwack Progress reports that she served as a Chilliwack School District trustee from 2008. In a letter printed on December 2, 2024 she wrote that she was resigning the seat, after 16 years, to focus on her work as MLA. Fraser Valley Today reported in February 2024 that the Chilliwack Board of Education had censured her three times in a year while she was a trustee.
CBC News reported on June 30, 2026 that party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who had no seat in the legislature, named Maahs interim leader of the Official Opposition. A caucus release of the same day also names her the critic for child care and early childhood education. Arrow Lakes News reported on September 21, 2026 that the Conservative caucus chose Lorne Doerkson as interim leader after Findlay resigned.
In the legislature in 2026 she questioned the Minister of Education and Child Care on child care spending during the budget estimates, spoke against Bill 9 on freedom of information and against Bill 13 on access zones at places of worship, and spoke for a private member's bill on car insurance benefits. The vote index records her as one of four members who voted no at third reading of Bill 12, the Safe Access to Schools Amendment Act. The 2025 vote index lists 86 recorded votes for her and the 2026 index lists 50. In 2025 she gave a budget speech on crime, overdoses and farming in Chilliwack, and supported an amendment to raise the basic personal income tax credit to $20,462.
The party's candidate page describes her work on reading skills and parental rights in education. Those are the party's own statements. On 2026-09-30 the same page labelled her "Interim Conservative Party Leader", a title no other source read by voche.me gave her. On 2026-10-03 the page is headed "RE-ELECT Heather Maahs, Candidate for Chilliwack North" and the label is gone. The Conservative caucus page lists her as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and for Childcare and Early Childhood Education.
On October 2, 2026 the BC NDP called on the Conservatives to drop her as a candidate over comments she made in 2022, when she was a school trustee, about a book in a school library. CTV News reported on October 3 that interim leader Lorne Doerkson said he does not share the view, and that she remains a candidate. The accountability section sets out the 2022 words, the NDP call and the replies found.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
14 commitments shown · Checked Oct 3
2026 · ChildcareCampaign pledge
Child care funding that follows the child
In a caucus release on May 20, 2026, Maahs, as Conservative critic for child care, said funding should follow the child so families can choose care that works for them, and that public, not-for-profit and private providers should all help meet demand. In the estimates debate on March 9, 2026 she said public money goes mostly to licensed centres while most families use other kinds of care.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A statement of how funding should work. It names no program change, cost, number of spaces or date.
What still needs checking
Does a Conservative platform give a cost and a start date for funding that follows the child?
In the estimates debate on March 9, 2026, Maahs said she hoped the money for early reading screening would help teachers retrain in research-based methods for teaching reading.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Said in a question to the minister. It names no program, cost, number of teachers or date.
What still needs checking
Does the Conservative education plan name a training program and a budget for it?
In the estimates debate on March 9, 2026, Maahs asked whether children in child care run by school districts could be screened for reading problems before kindergarten.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Raised as a question. It names no cost or date.
What still needs checking
Does she or her party propose screening before kindergarten as a measure?
Delay and defeat the freedom of information changes in Bill 9
In debate on April 21 and May 6, 2026, Maahs spoke against Bill 9, which changes the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and supported a motion to delay the bill by six months.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The vote index records her yes on the delay motion and her no at second and third reading. The transcript of May 28, 2026 shows the bill passed third reading 46 to 46, decided by the Speaker's casting vote. She named no plan of her own for the law.
What still needs checking
Would a Conservative government change the act back, and with what bill?
Special committee to review the human rights system
In a letter printed by the Chilliwack Progress on March 20, 2026, Maahs wrote that she had placed a motion on the order paper asking for a special committee to review the Human Rights Tribunal, including time limits for complaints and free speech protections for local elected officials.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The letter quotes part of the motion. voche.me did not find the motion debated or voted on in the 2026 indexes. It names no cost or date.
What still needs checking
Was the motion debated, and does the party repeat it in its platform?
Enforce existing laws to protect places of worship
In the Bill 13 debate on March 31, 2026, Maahs said access zones around places of worship would not stop hatred or violence, and that police should enforce the hate, violence and property laws that already exist.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A statement of approach. It names no police funding, number of officers or date.
What still needs checking
Does she or her party say what funding police would get to enforce these laws?
Power supply and chargers before electric vehicle targets
In the Bill 16 debate on April 20, 2026, Maahs criticized the government's electric vehicle sales targets and said power supply and charging infrastructure must be in place first.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A statement of approach on the targets. It names no target, cost or date.
What still needs checking
What would a Conservative government do with the electric vehicle sales rules?
In the Bill 16 debate on April 20, 2026, Maahs said the bill's steps to reduce development cost charges, fees on new building, were a step in the right direction, and asked whether they go far enough.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
She welcomed the government measure and gave no measure, amount or date of her own. The vote index records her no votes on clauses 2 and 3 of Bill 16. Those two clauses cover judicial review of cabinet confidentiality (see the Bill 16 entry under votes). The clauses on development cost charges, 25 and 26, were approved in the transcript of April 28, 2026 with no division recorded.
What still needs checking
Does the Conservative housing plan say how far the charges would fall?
Treat the loss of one limb as a catastrophic injury for car insurance
In the debate on April 20, 2026, Maahs spoke for Bill M237, a private member's bill from MLA Sheldon Clare. She said the Insurance (Vehicle) Act counts the loss of two or more limbs as a catastrophic injury, and that the loss of one limb should count.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
On April 22, 2026 the House voted 49 to 42 to send the bill to a special committee; the vote index records her no. The bill names no cost.
What still needs checking
Does the special committee report on the bill, and what does it recommend?
The Chilliwack Progress quotes a statement Maahs released on September 24, 2026, when she announced she would run again. She said the province must develop its resources and encourage businesses large and small.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A statement of approach. It names no measure, cost or date.
What still needs checking
What measures does she or her party name for forestry and small business?
Address health care waits, homelessness and addiction
In the same statement of September 24, 2026, quoted by the Chilliwack Progress, Maahs said patients wait years for surgery and that homelessness, addiction and safer supply are problems to address.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A reason for running. It names no measure, cost or date.
What still needs checking
What measures does she name for wait times and addiction care?
Conservative Party of BC plan on government spending
The party's platform page lists a plan titled A Free and Prosperous BC that says the party will get government working for taxpayers. The page says the platform is coming soon and does not name Maahs.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. voche.me found no 2026 statement by Maahs that sets out a tax or budget measure.
What still needs checking
Does the party publish a fiscal plan, and does Maahs speak on it?
Conservative Party of BC plan on economic reconciliation
The party's platform page lists a plan titled Economic Reconciliation, Healthy Communities, for partnerships, economic development and respect for Indigenous governance. The page does not name Maahs.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Party text. Her own record on the issue is her recorded votes on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Repeal Act and the K'ómoks Treaty Act.
What still needs checking
Does the party publish the plan, and what does it say about the Declaration act?
Recorded vote, no; the bill passed 46 to 46 on the Speaker's casting vote
Voted against Bill 9, the freedom of information changes
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on the motion to delay Bill 9 by six months, no at second reading, no on several clauses, and no at third reading.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of May 28, 2026 records the tie and the Speaker's vote.
Voted yes at first reading of the Drug Recovery and Community Safety Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on first reading of Bill M235, introduced by MLA Tara Armstrong to end provincial funding for drug consumption sites.
Scope, limits and sources
First reading introduces a bill. voche.me found no later stage in the 2026 index.
Recorded vote, yes; the first amendment failed 4 to 5 and the second 4 to 6
Voted for two Conservative amendments to the Residential Tenancy Amendment Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on two amendments to clause 7 of Bill 11, moved by MLA Claire Rattée. The first would add a duty on a landlord to keep other tenants and staff from exposure to smoke or vapour from controlled substances used indoors. The second would add a duty to make sure tenants with complex health, behavioural or substance use needs have access to appropriate supports.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of April 13, 2026 records each of the two divisions in committee and names her among the four yes votes.
Recorded vote, no; clause 2 passed 5 to 4 and clause 3 passed on the chair's casting vote after a 5 to 5 tie
Voted no on clauses 2 and 3 of Bill 16, on judicial review and cabinet confidentiality
The vote index lists Maahs voting no on clauses 2 and 3 of the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2026. In the committee debate the Attorney General said clause 2 sets a process for certifying cabinet confidentiality in judicial reviews, and an opposition member said clause 3 applies the new rule to reviews already begun.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of April 28, 2026 records both committee divisions and the chair's casting vote. By the chair's practice the casting vote follows the rules of the House, so it is no position on the clause.
Recorded vote, yes; first reading was defeated 38 to 49
Voted yes at first reading of the Gender Ideology and Child Protection Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on first reading of a bill introduced by MLA Tara Armstrong. The sponsor said it would classify the promotion of gender ideology as emotional harm in family law, ban social transitions in schools and prohibit medical gender transitions of minors.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of February 19, 2026 records the sponsor's description and the result. First reading introduces a bill, and voche.me found no later stage.
Recorded vote, yes; first reading was defeated 38 to 49
Voted yes at first reading of the Defunding Aboriginal Title Claims Affecting Private Property Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on first reading of a bill introduced by MLA Tara Armstrong. The sponsor said it would suspend non-essential provincial funding to any Indigenous group that has started an Aboriginal title claim affecting private property.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of March 12, 2026 records the sponsor's description and the result.
Voted yes on an amendment to raise the basic personal income tax credit to $20,462
The vote index and the transcript list Maahs voting yes on an amendment to second reading of Bill 5, the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2025. It said the bill should not be read a second time until the House raises the basic personal income tax credit to $20,462. She spoke for it on May 1, 2025.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of May 6, 2025 records the amendment and the result.
Recorded vote, yes; first reading was defeated 5 to 85
Voted yes at first reading of the Land Acknowledgement Prohibition Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting yes on first reading of a bill introduced by MLA Dallas Brodie. The sponsor said it would make it unlawful for publicly funded institutions and their employees to make land acknowledgements that deny the Crown's sovereignty or attribute collective guilt based on race or ancestry.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of October 23, 2025 lists her among the 5 yes votes.
Recorded vote, no; second reading passed 48 to 42 and third reading passed on the Speaker's casting vote after a 46 to 46 tie
Voted no on Bill 31, the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
The vote index lists Maahs voting no at second reading and at third reading.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcripts of October 29 and November 19, 2025 record the results. By the Speaker's practice the casting vote follows the rules of the House, so it is no position on the bill. voche.me did not read the debate on the bill.
Recorded vote, no; third reading passed on the Speaker's casting vote after a 46 to 46 tie
Voted no at third reading of Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act
The vote index lists Maahs voting no at second and third reading.
Scope, limits and sources
The transcript of May 28, 2025 records the tie and the casting vote. By the Speaker's practice the casting vote follows the rules of the House, so it is no position on the bill. voche.me did not read the debate on the bill.
As opposition critic for child care, Maahs asked about the pause on new $10-a-day providers in Budget 2026 and how $330 million of child care money is spent.
Child care and early learning estimates, second day
Maahs asked about federal child care funding, a wage grid for early childhood educators, reading screening and math results, and closed with her view of public funding for child care.
A caucus release in her name on the closure of three child care centres and the $10-a-day program. Fraser Valley Today printed a version as her opinion piece on May 21.
Maahs said the budget failed Chilliwack North on crime, overdoses, a promised Stó:lō recovery facility, safe supply and agriculture. She said the Conservative caucus had called for a public inquiry into the safe supply program.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
Official finding
Three censures by the Chilliwack Board of Education
Fraser Valley Today reported that the board censured Maahs as a trustee in March 2023 for a breach of its code of conduct, in December 2023 for public opposition to practices the board endorsed, and in February 2024 for not keeping board matters confidential.
Candidate or party response
Maahs said the December 2023 censure followed her refusal to remove a news story she had shared on social media, according to Fraser Valley Today. In an emailed statement the Chilliwack Progress printed on December 19, 2023, she said she found it troubling that the board treated reposting an article as a censurable offence. After the March 2023 censure she wrote that the board chair had cut the microphone on the public and on her at a February 7, 2023 meeting, and that the board had held her responsible for the public reaction without a fair process.
Verified status and limits
After the third censure the board removed her from closed meetings for the rest of the 2023-24 school year, Fraser Valley Today reported. The board's own records were not opened. The Progress reported in March 2023 that the board said no further action was being taken beyond hiring a facilitator.
A Chilliwack resident wrote to the Chilliwack Progress objecting to her yes vote on first reading of the Human Rights Code Repeal Act on February 26, 2026.
Candidate or party response
In a letter printed on March 20, 2026, Maahs wrote that a first reading vote only puts a bill on the table for debate, and that she had placed a motion for a committee to review the human rights system.
Verified status and limits
First reading was defeated 37 to 50, according to the transcript. No official finding applies.
Dispute over a Christian lobby group at the legislature
CBC News reports that independent MLA Elenore Sturko clashed with Maahs after Maahs invited the Association for Reformed Political Action to speak in the legislature in May 2025. Sturko called Findlay's new leadership team a "circus tent".
Candidate or party response
Maahs told CBC News there are many different faith groups in B.C. that deserve to be heard.
Verified status and limits
A dispute between politicians. voche.me found no official finding.
Call to drop her as a candidate over 2022 remarks about a school library book
Abbotsford News reported on June 3, 2022 that Maahs, then a school trustee, was a guest on an internet talk show on May 26, 2022. Asked about a book in a Chilliwack high school library, she said: "You said maybe grooming. It's for sure grooming." On October 1 and 2, 2026 BC NDP member Spencer Chandra Herbert, the party's candidate in Vancouver-West End, called on Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson to remove her as a candidate before the nomination deadline. He described the remarks as conflating the gay community with pedophilia and called them homophobic. CTV News and Abbotsford News reported the call. Both the quoted words and the characterisation are those of the people named. A court or regulator has made no finding.
Candidate or party response
Interim leader Lorne Doerkson told CTV's Question Period that he does not share the view, and when asked whether she would remain a candidate he answered "Yes." Abbotsford News reported it asked the party, Maahs and Doerkson for comment, and that the party instead sent a statement from another candidate, Dion Weisner, which criticised the NDP and said every British Columbian deserves respect and dignity. voche.me found no statement from Maahs on the 2026 call. In 2022 the board's vice chair at the time told the paper the suggestion of grooming was false and hurtful, and the superintendent said Chilliwack educators work to support diversity and human rights.
Verified status and limits
No official finding. The nomination deadline was 1 p.m. PT on October 3, 2026. The Elections BC list read by voche.me on October 3 shows her as the Conservative candidate, and its heading says it may not be the final list.
Dispute over a legislature vote on a Christian lobby group
Fraser Valley Today reported that a former Chilliwack-Kent MLA wrote on Facebook that no Conservative member was in the chamber on October 6, 2025 for the vote on an NDP motion condemning intolerance by the Association for Reformed Political Action, and said both Chilliwack MLAs had failed to take a stand.
Candidate or party response
Maahs said in a Facebook statement that the caucus chose not to give attention to what she called a "nasty bit of vitriol" and did not attend the vote, and that she believes in freedom of speech and freedom of religion, according to Fraser Valley Today.
Verified status and limits
A dispute between politicians. voche.me found no official finding.
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Fraser Valley Today
Maahs endorses Kerry-Lynne Findlay for party leader
Elections BC list shows NDP and CentreBC candidates in Chilliwack North
Reports that the Elections BC list shows Adila Shaukat for the BC NDP, Dan Grice for CentreBC and Heather Maahs for the Conservatives, and that OneBC will not run a candidate in the riding.
Sources checked October 3, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
Checked again on 2026-10-03. No campaign website of her own was found; the party candidate page holds a biography written by the party and no measures, and its news list is empty. The label "Interim Conservative Party Leader" that the party page showed on 2026-09-30 is gone on 2026-10-03. The legislature member record saved for this election lists no roles for her, so her Opposition leader and critic roles come from reporting and caucus pages, which are the caucus's own descriptions. Her X page returned a payment-required error and her Facebook page showed only a name, so nothing from either is used. Only her own passages were read, in 32 of the transcripts the 2025 and 2026 indexes point to. Many 2025 speeches listed in the 2025 index were not opened, among them the Bill 29 debate and the Children and Family Development estimates debate that fit her critic role. Several recorded votes rest on the vote index alone, and the content of the bills behind them was not read where the entry says so. The 2022 interview was read through the news report only, and the recording was not opened. Her trustee record from 2008 to 2024 and the three censures were not checked against Chilliwack School District records. The questions she read into the record on the Supreme Court ruling on child care eligibility had no published answer in the transcripts read. No 2026 all-candidates meeting for Chilliwack North was found. Campaign finances and endorsements were not reviewed. Her reply to the October 2026 call from the NDP was not found. The questionnaire has not been sent. The name search used news search pages from Bing and Google and the sites of local papers, because the search tool had reached its usage limit.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Second pass on 2026-10-03, after a first pass from 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-02. Repeated today: the Elections BC candidate list, her two party candidate pages, the Conservative caucus news list and member profile, the legislature's 2026 speech and vote indexes, news from the last 5 days, and a first read of the legislature's 2025 speech and vote indexes with 11 transcripts from 2025 and 6 more from 2026.
Changes from the first pass. The Elections BC list still gives Chilliwack North, Heather Maahs, Conservative Party, with the same spelling. Her party page no longer carries the label "Interim Conservative Party Leader" it showed on 2026-09-30. The 2026 indexes hold no speech or vote added since 2026-09-30, and the last 2026 transcript is Issue 188 of May 28, 2026. The Chilliwack Progress letter of December 2, 2024 shows she resigned as trustee that month, so the earlier line that she served until she was elected MLA was corrected. Her trustee dates come from the Progress and from her own letter, and no school district record was opened.
Her commitments on this page come from what she said in the legislature, in caucus releases and in reporting that quotes her. No campaign website of her own was found. Sections with no entry record that voche.me found nothing on this date.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture and for Childcare and Early Childhood Education
The Conservative caucus page lists both roles and says she was also the Official Opposition critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development for two years. These are the caucus's own descriptions, read on 2026-10-03. The legislature record read by voche.me lists no roles for her.
Named by party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, according to CBC News. Arrow Lakes News reports the caucus chose Lorne Doerkson as interim leader on September 20, 2026.
Conservative critic for child care and early childhood education
She named herself the opposition critic for child care in the estimates debate of March 5, 2026. The caucus release of June 30, 2026 keeps her in the role.
Dates as reported by the Chilliwack Progress. In a letter printed on December 2, 2024 she wrote that she was resigning her seat on the Board of Education after 16 years. voche.me has not checked the dates against school district records.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
No questions and answers have been supplied.
Have your own question?
Ask Heather Maahs directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Heather Maahs's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Heather Maahs?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Heather Maahs's own campaign.
What party is Heather Maahs running with?
Heather Maahs is running for MLA with Conservative Party of BC.
Does Heather Maahs currently hold public office?
Yes. Heather Maahs currently serves as MLA for Chilliwack North.
How many sources does this Heather Maahs profile cite?
This profile lists 10 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Heather Maahs's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Heather Maahs in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Heather Maahs is running in?
The 2026 British Columbia election, including the MLA race, is decided on October 24, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
No campaign updates yet
Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added.
