Sask. Party's '1st order of business' to be gendered change room policy in schools: Scott Moe

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said Thursday that his "first order of business" if re-elected this month would be to establish a policy restricting students' use of change rooms in the province's schools to their sex assigned at birth.

Moe made the announcement while surrounded by a cheering crowd of party supporters and candidates at a campaign office in Regina.

"I'll be very clear, there will be a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls," said Moe.

Moe said some school divisions should already have a policy on change rooms, but that a directive from the minister of education would apply to all schools in the province.

When asked what he meant by "biological boys," Moe said he did not know how much clearer he could be.

Terms like "biological boys" and "biological girls" can be used to imply that transgender people are still their assigned sex at birth, despite their identity.

An expert says the terms are used to deny the existence of transgender people.

"It is imagining some biological certainty about bodies. It pretends we are all binary. It pretends there's some biological truth that they know about people. And it also sort of claims that trans people are duplicitous," said j skelton, a professor of queer studies in education at the University of Regina.

The policy announced this morning was not part of the party's platform released over the weekend. Moe said the party was just alerted to change room-related concerns "recently."

Moe did not specify how many complaints there were, but the Saskatchewan Party confirmed it "received calls and correspondence with concerns regarding the complaint at Balgonie Elementary."

On Wednesday, news outlet the Western Standard published a story featuring a Balgonie parent saying their daughter had been uncomfortable in a change room at school with two other students who identified as female, but were assigned male at birth.

When asked whether there were complaints from any other schools, the party said that providing "a fulsome and accurate response" would require accessing government resources, which it is not able to do during the ongoing election campaign.

Prairie Valley School Division, which oversees Balgonie Elementary, declined in a statement to provide any details that could jeopardize student privacy and safety.

Instead, the division said it believes all students should have the opportunity to learn and grow in safe and welcoming environment.