REGINA - It was another topsy-turvy year at Regina City Hall as city officials dealt with a number of emergent concerns in 2023.
From homelessness to ethics investigations, to a botched tourism rebranding and a controversial removal of a board of directors, there were plenty of stories coming from Regina throughout the year. Here is a look at some of those stories that prompted the biggest headlines last year.
Fallout from the 2023 budget process
The ramifications from the recently-concluded 2023 budget deliberations in Regina in December 2022 spilled over into the new year, after Councillors Dan LeBlanc and Andrew Stevens had unsuccessfully taken the City Manager Niki Anderson to court for not including a line item of funding towards addressing homelessness.
In February, council removed LeBlanc’s from the board of Community and Social Impact Regina. Both LeBlanc and Stevens were subject to an ethics investigation and were later found to have breached the Code of Ethics.
The discussion at council on that topic proved to be heated. Police were called in to clear the gallery after individuals interrupted the proceedings, and the doors were locked for the rest of the meeting.
In the end council passed a motion expressing disappointment in the actions of the two councillors.
Homeless encampment at City Hall
An emerging story that went on in 2023 was the homeless encampment that was set up on the lawn of Regina City Hall.
The encampment set up in June and grew to upwards of 80 tents. It stayed in place into July when the situation at the site finally came to a head. Regina Fire ordered the encampment cleared due to the fire hazard at the location, with fires happening there that week — one of which was set intentionally. Regina police were called in as the camp was decommissioned. Fences were then set up on the City Hall lawn and remained there through the fall.
The entire issue of houselessness was an issue throughout the year in Regina, with a motion coming back to council in September to declare a houselessness crisis in the city. But that motion ended up not getting enough votes at council.
Catalyst Committee findings presented
A news story that dominated 2022 — the Catalyst Committee’s work in determining what order major projects should go ahead in the city — saw some conclusions presented in 2023. The recommendations called for a non-vehicular trail system that would connect the various catalyst projects; replacement for the Lawson Aquatic Centre; a new Central Library to replace the existing downtown location, and a new Multipurpose Events Centre.
Experience Regina fiasco
A major story that erupted outside of City Hall in 2023 was the botched rollout of the rebrand of Tourism Regina into Experience Regina. The rebrand, which included the use on social media of sexually charged slogans such as “show us your Regina” and the “city that rhymes with fun.” Regina Exhibition Association Ltd., which ran Experience Regina, quickly apologized and ordered an independent report on the matter, and changed the name back to Tourism Regina. The decision was also made for city administration to take over running the organization from REAL.
REAL board is turfed
The woes of REAL extended beyond tourism in 2023: they had suffered heavy financial losses that had caused the organization to go to council to request approval to take on additional debt. By November, council had received a report from MNP in which they predicted further heavy losses and concluded the current business model was not sustainable.
In response council voted at Executive Committee in favor of a motion that city administration look into whether to dissolve REAL and have the City assume control.
The following week, council made the bombshell decision to remove the voting directors of real, prompting the real directors to resign. A new board was appointed consisting mainly of city officials, with City Manager Niki Anderson serving as chair.
