Saskatchewan Party candidate for nomination withdraws, apologizes for putting child in blackface

A former prospective Saskatchewan Party nominee has apologized for putting a student in blackface.

Meghan Mayer was running to be the Sask. Party nominee for the Prince Albert Carlton constituency. She withdrew from the race a week after announcing her candidacy.

"This decision came after recognizing my past actions and weighing the needs and sensibilities of the community," Mayer told CTV News in an emailed statement.

Mayer is the lead pastor of Embassy Church in Prince Albert. She used to work at Regent Academy — a private Christian school operated by Embassy Church. The school was shut down in 2024.

"In 2014, I directed a school play in which one of the actors was in blackface. At the time, I was not aware of the offensive and racist nature of blackface," Mayer wrote in the statement.

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"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."

Lina Rigby, whose son was in the play, said she was shocked to see a child in blackface.

"There was an Indigenous student involved in the play that was made up in blackface. It was extremely racist and offensive," Rigby told CTV News.

"It makes me feel sick when I think about it."

Rigby's husband, Jeremy Rigby, made a complaint to the Ministry of Education and the video of the Christmas play was removed from YouTube.

"I couldn't believe it was real," Jeremy said.

"I was very concerned about how it was normalizing this behaviour for the kids. I think the fact that you had an auditorium full of adults who were laughing at this and thought it was hilarious, I found very disturbing."

The couple is calling for better background checks for potential politicians.

"I think the fact that there's literally a letter to the Ministry of Education sitting in the government archives somewhere detailing this racist experience that she created. It would have been pretty easy for them to discover it, so I think the process of background checks wasn't done," Jeremy said.

Patrick Bundrock, the executive director of the Sask. Party, said "background checks are done on all Saskatchewan Party candidates for nomination."

"As Meghan Mayer has decided not to seek a Saskatchewan Party nomination, the party has no further comment to make," Bundrock said.

Mayer was looking to replace Prince Albert Carlton's longtime MLA Joe Hargrave. After about eight years in the position, Hargrave announced he would not seek re-election in October.

"I am confident that stepping aside is the right choice at this time and I remain committed to serving the community in the future," Mayer said.