Premier, women’s minister, refuse to condemn squash club’s men-only policy

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This article was published 16/01/2018 (2288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Private organizations, including those who exclude women, have the right to decide who can belong, Premier Brian Pallister declared Wednesday.

But both Pallister and Women’s Minister Rochelle Squires repeatedly refused to say if they personally believe whether men-only clubs should still exist in 2018.

Winnipeg businesswoman Jodi Moskal has drawn attention this week to the 109-year-old Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club’s men-only policy while at the same time touting itself as a facility in which professionals can make business connections and even find a job.

Moskal is an electrician, business owner, former chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Point Douglas byelection last summer.

“It’s a private organization. Private organizations make their own rules,” Pallister told reporters at a breakfast for Women’s Equality Week.

“They’ll have to decide, I suppose, on this issue like they have to decide on others. It’s a topic for discussion but it isn’t in the realm of what, as a premier, I should be injecting myself into.

“Women have the right to speak up, as do men. She’s (Moskal) advocating for an issue near and dear to her heart.”

Pressed for her personal belief, Squires would only cite how the Conservatives are working to increase the number of women in politics and on corporate boards.

“I certainly support Jodi to speak passionately. I agree that a dialogue is always beneficial,” said Squires, the minister responsible for status of women.

New Democrat Nahanni Fontaine demanded Wednesday that Pallister and Squires take a position.

It’s not about playing squash, it’s about getting the same access as men to the business networking the club offers, she said.

She told reporters the situation is far different from women-only groups since it excludes women from networking opportunities.

“Women need to be able to feel safe in a particular space. This is excluding women from access to power,” Fontaine said.

Pallister’s director of communications Chisholm Pothier confirmed Wednesday that St. James Tory MLA Scott Johnston held a fundraiser at the squash club recently, but Johnston was not made available for interviews.

Johnston’s fundraiser was open to everyone, said PC Party of Manitoba CEO Keith Stewart.

“The PC Party of Manitoba gives constituency associations the freedom to rent venues based on the suitability of the facility for the event. Once the facility is rented, our rules apply. The St. James event was well attended by women, and we would not support any party function that was not open to all,” Stewart said.

The squash club did not immediately respond to an interview request Wednesday, but told The Canadian Press in an earlier email from its board of directors that “while there are some co-ed tournaments and special events that include women, the club lacks the space required to be fully co-ed.”

Pallister should order his caucus to have no dealings with any organization that excludes women, Fontaine said. She was not aware of any statutory authority Pallister could wield, but urged him to take responsibility and show leadership by speaking out against male-only groups.

“It’s 2018,” she said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca