REGINA — The NDP says the Saskatchewan Party's Scott Moe needs to provide answers after a candidate's two children and their use of a school change room were brought up in the election campaign.
Moe said this week his first order of business, if his party is re-elected Oct. 28, would be to ban "biological boys" from using school changing rooms with "biological girls."
The promise came after Moe said he learned of a complaint about two biological males changing for gym class with girls at a southeast Saskatchewan school. It was not previously included in the Saskatchewan Party's campaign platform.
The Canadian Press has learned a parent of the two children who are the subjects of the complaint is an NDP candidate.
Asked about the issue at a campaign stop Friday in Regina, fellow NDP candidate Nicole Sarauer said children shouldn't be outed for their gender identity or sexuality.
"Politics is a difficult job. When you sign up for the job, you know that your public life will be open to scrutiny. Your children don't sign up for that," Sarauer told reporters.
"I think that no leader, community or political or otherwise, should aid in the way of outing or othering of children.
"Scott Moe should answer for yesterday."
Moe, when asked about the issue Friday, said in a statement that the identity of minors should never be part of political debate.
"This is about supporting all students and having appropriate spaces for kids — all kids," the statement said.
"If, for whatever reason, a biological male needs to be accommodated in another change room space, the response to that isn’t to send them to the girls' change room space. The answer is to accommodate that student by providing a safe space for them to change."
He said a provincial directive would make sure all school boards follow the rule.
The school board that oversees the school at the centre of the change room complaint has said it doesn't comment on specific situations that could jeopardize student privacy and safety.
It also said all students should learn in safe and welcoming environments and that its procedures align with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
Regina Public Schools said in a statement Friday its policy states students have the right to use the washrooms and change rooms that match their gender identity. Students who want more privacy can also confidentially request a separate change room or washroom.
Saskatoon Public Schools spokesperson Colleen Cameron said in a statement its schools offer individual washrooms and change rooms for students.
Elementary students don't normally use change rooms, she said, as they wear their street clothes in gym class.
Last year, Moe's government used the notwithstanding clause to pass a law that prevents children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.
NDP Leader Carla Beck has said her party would repeal that law if it forms government.
Sarauer, at her news conference, said voters are more concerned about affordability than change rooms, and the NDP on its first day forming government would suspend the provincial gas tax and start fixing health care.
"Moe's focused on bathrooms, not classrooms," Sarauer said. "These are not the priorities of the Saskatchewan people I'm talking to every day.
"The people I'm talking to are very excited to save 15 cents a litre (on gas), like they do in Manitoba, and they're hopeful about our plans to invest in health care to retain thousands of front-line health-care workers."
Daniel Westlake, a political studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said Moe's announcement on change rooms could be used to shore up support from social conservatives.
But he said it also may alienate moderate voters.
"That stuff is risky," Westlake said.
Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina, said questions remain over how schools would enforce Moe's proposal.
McIntosh said he's not convinced the change room issue will be a main motivator for voters.
"I'm at a loss myself to explain the rationale behind suddenly throwing this out as the policy and the No. 1 issue that needs to be dealt with first," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press
