Sex assault case sees Sask. women in politics leading real change

Reaction to U of S situation was decisive and immediate on both sides of the aisle

Whether we’re ready for it or not, women in politics are already rapidly changing Saskatchewan society.

Until now, change has mostly been something we liked to talk about — or something symbolic, like seeing Nicole Sarauer as interim NDP Opposition leader or Donna Harpauer as the second female finance minister in the province’s history.

But the conviction of a University of Saskatchewan Huskies athlete for sexual assault — or, more to the point, how the issue was handled by the longtime coach of the university’s men’s volleyball program — demonstrates the changes women are demanding are now very real.

When this sexual assault was raised in the assembly, real change happened fast. The power of women in politics has suddenly come to life.

The issue stems from the twoyear prison sentence given to Matthew Alan Meyer of Prince Albert in Medicine Hat’s Court of Queen’s Bench. Meyer pleaded guilty to sexual assault, stemming from a Jan. 17, 2016, incident in which he admitted to sexually assaulting a passed-out Medicine Hat College student and photographing the victim 147 times. He also pleaded guilty to voyeurism.

Meyer then wound up playing for the U of S during the 201718 season after the charges had been laid but not yet proven in court. Meyer was recruited by longtime Huskies head coach Brian Gavlas, who said: “I was aware of the charge, yes. I wasn’t aware of what was happening.

“It became a choice and decision that for his time during this past year it would be best for him to be supported and part of a passion and a sport that he enjoyed and a group of guys that could support him,” Gavlas told the StarPhoenix’s Dave Deibert. “Nowhere along the lines did we take anything that had happened in the past into account with his involvement with our team.”

The coach went on to say that from his “perspective as a coach and as a father, I thought being involved with our team and our program would be best at this particular stage in his life.”

The comments sparked an immediate internal investigation by the university into “the circumstances surrounding the player” as per the Huskie Athletics code of conduct.

But why the ensuing events unfolded as rapidly as they did had everything to do with Advanced Education Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor’s response to Sarauer raising the issue in Thursday’s question period.

After first noting Saskatchewan has the second-highest per capita rate of sexual assaults in Canada, Sarauer bridged to “completely unacceptable” comments from the U of S coach that “show that attitudes and perceptions are very slow to change.”

Little did Sarauer know how quickly things were about to happen ... largely because of Beaudry-Mellor’s response.

“Mr. Speaker, I am angry. And this is not OK,” said Beaudry-Mellor. “The young man in question here was charged with a sexual assault on an unconscious woman and took 147 photos of her.”

To an assembly stunned into silence, Beaudry-Mellor quoted Gavlas, including the U of S coach’s suggestion that Meyer had “made a very bad choice and decision with his actions and what he did for one night. And it’s cost him dearly.”

“I ask, Mr. Speaker, what about the young woman?” BeaudryMellor said, reminding the assembly that her predecessor, Kevin Doherty, had written to every post-secondary institution just eight months prior, demanding they “take their responsibilities on the issue of sexual violence seriously.”

By day’s end, Gavlas had been fired as U of S men’s volleyball coach.

These severe consequences will forever change not only what we expect from coaches and other leaders, but also the behaviour of athletes themselves.

And it wouldn’t have happened so fast had Sarauer not raised it in the assembly or had BeaudryMellor not responded the way she did. Such change is real and tangible. Women in politics are making a difference.