PRINCE ALBERT — Local pastor, business owner and former Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce board chair Meghan Mayer released a statement on Friday apologizing for directing a school play where one of the youth actors appeared in blackface.
Mayer was seeking the Saskatchewan Party nomination in Prince Albert Carlton but withdrew from the race on July 15 citing new challengers in the field as the reason. On Friday, she released a second statement saying she withdrew after recognizing past actions while directing the play were wrong.
The statement was first reported by CTV News. Mayer emailed it to the Daily Herald on Friday afternoon.
“After conversations with the Sask Party, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the PA Carlton race,” reads the statement. “This decision came after recognizing my past actions and weighing the needs and sensibilities of the community. I am confident that stepping aside is the right choice at this time, and I remain committed to serving the community in the future.”
According to the statement, Mayer directed a school play at Regent Academy in 2014 where one of the student actors wore blackface.
“The character was revered in the play,” reads the statement. “At the time I was not aware of the offensive and racist nature of blackface. I now recognize that darkening your face, due to its racist history, is always unacceptable.
“I deeply apologize to the actor involved for my ignorance of this issue and endeavour to continue to educate myself.”
In her initial emailed statement on Monday Mayer said she decided to run for Prince Albert Carlton because there were no other candidates in the field. However, with new challengers now in the race, she believed it was in the best interest of the electoral process and the community to step aside.
“This decision came after recognizing my past actions and weighing the needs and sensibilities of the community,” reads the statement. “I am confident that stepping aside is the right choice at this time, and I remain committed to serving the community in the future,”
Patrick Bundrock the executive director of the Saskatchewan Party, said that since Mayer is no longer a candidate they will not be commenting further.
“At this point, we've now set a nomination date for Prince Albert Carton, It's Aug. 21 and the process has officially begun and we’re looking forward to the nomination race,” Bundrock said.
On Monday, Bundrock said there were more names in the competition which are under review.
Mayer is the lead pastor of Embassy Church in Prince Albert. She used to work at Regent Academy, which was a private Christian school operated by Embassy Church and directed the play at the Regent Academy.
The school announced the decision to shut down in November 2023 for the 2024-2025 school year. The school was one of three placed under sanctions by the province in the 2022-2023 school year after allegations of abuse came forward.
The school’s former Principal Duff Friesen is currently before the courts in Saskatoon on allegations of abuse.
Mayer said in a statement that the decision to shut down the school came about because the church felt it was time to close and had nothing to do with the allegations against Friesen.
When asked about any further investigations into the school, the Ministry of Education released the following statement:
“The school was under the same supervision requirements as all Qualified Independent Schools in the 2023-24 school year. The school ceased operations at the end of the 2023-24 school year.”
Mayer was Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce chair in 2017 and was also a director of the Downtown Business Development Board. Mayer has owned and operated a hair salon with her husband since 2011 and served as lead pastor of Embassy Church for the past seven years.
In her Monday statement, she stated that she remains committed to supporting the community and will continue to be engaged in Prince Albert to help make it be a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Mayer was the first candidate to seek the Sask. Party’s Prince Albert Carlton nomination since former MLA Joe Hargrave announced he would not run again. Hargrave was first elected in 2016, then re-elected in 2020, and was acclaimed as the Sask. Party candidate again in November 2023.
However, in May 2024, Hargrave announced he would not seek another term, saying he had discussed the issue with his family and believed he could not commit to another four years.
Longtime nurse Carolyn Brost Strom is the NDP candidate in Prince Albert Carlton after winning a contested nomination in September 2023.
The 2024 Saskatchewan provincial election must be held on or before Oct. 28.
Jeremy Rigby and his wife Lina were among the parents who watched the 2014 Regent Academy play on YouTube. They lived in Saskatoon, but their son attended the school for roughly seven years.
Jeremy filed a complaint with the Ministry of Education about the performance. He said they were shocked when they watched it.
"Even in 2014, to be unaware of the fact that doing blackface is inappropriate is a little bit difficult to believe,” Rigby said when asked about Mayer’s apology.
“If that's her answer then I think it really shows that the quality of education that the people attending those schools are getting is not adequate.”
Rigby is a teacher from Saskatoon. He is concerned the Ministry of Education is not taking complaints about independent schools like Regent Academy seriously.
"It's clear that that semi-private way of educating people is the way in which they're trying to push the province,” he said. “I think that pushing these kinds of things under the rug is something that is going to be their best practice in order to further their agenda at this point.”
Mayer is not the first politician to face backlash for their connections to blackface. In 2019, Time Magazine published photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dressed in blackface at a 2001 party. Another photo later surfaced of Trudeau wearing blackface at an event in the ’90s.
Trudeau apologized for his decisions, said he regretted his actions and was re-elected as Prime Minister.
-With files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
