From the fallout of the Experience Regina campaign to the city hall tent encampment and the disbanding of the REAL board of directors, there was plenty to talk about in the City of Regina in 2023.
In a year-end interview with CTV News’ Lee Jones that can be seen on CTV Regina Dec. 27 at noon and 6 p.m., Mayor Sandra Masters said looking back at the past year, there were several achievements, such as the housing accelerator fund, the opening of Wascana Pool, expansions of mental health and addiction treatment, and hosting successful events.
However, 2023 was not without its tough moments that Masters hopes the city has learned from.
EXPERIENCE REGINA
“In terms of disappointments, I think the Experience Regina launch would be clearly a mistake that happened,” Masters said. “What we learned from it is that brand is important to the City of Regina.”
Following the failed rebrand, the City of Regina took over tourism responsibilities from the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL).
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“Taking that back within the city to re-establish the brand of the city so that our municipal corporations can use those going forward is a really big step,” Masters said.
The rebrand was met with worldwide criticism after several slogans sexualized the city’s name, playing with the fact that it rhymes with vagina.
REAL’s board of directors recently all resigned following Regina city council’s vote to remove them. The duties were transferred over to the city, something Masters says she doesn’t think the city can handle.
“You think of all that the city does in terms of delivery of service, we have more than enough on our plate,” she said.
“It’s an independent board of directors with the skill sets necessary to really ask the probing questions that need to be asked from different perspectives with different skills sets to be independent of the city.”
HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT
Masters said the homeless encampment on the front lawn of city hall this past summer was significant for the city.
“On the one hand, [it] allows for continued advocacy, on the other hand, there were circumstances that were occurring and situations that were occurring up front which were not good for the health and well-being of a whole bunch of people,” she said.
When asked how she felt things were handled during that situation, Masters said it was probably the best they could do under the circumstances.
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“It was taken down under the Fire Safety Act because there was a third fire in five days in growing significance, some intentionally set, some accidental,” she said.
She acknowledged the fences around the encampment were criticized but said they were put up for safety reasons and not to keep people away.
“We know that when we finally took the fences down, cleanup continued to happen and so we continued to find needles and other disposal items of a biogenic nature in the shrubs and bushes,” she said.
WARMING SHELTER SPACES
As winter weather settles in, Masters said she would like to avoid the warming bus this year, and instead expand housing units and warming shelter spaces.
“[The warming bus] is on the one hand very expensive and so you would pull it out as a last resort essentially because you do have to put extra security on as well as outreach workers on that bus,” she said. “It’s not really a place for folks to exist overnight.”
Masters said over the next few weeks, the city is planning to expand capacity within the housing system.
“We are looking at a warming shelter type space in addition to the permanent shelter we’re trying to locate” noting that there will be an expansion of about 50 supportive housing units.
As people get stabilized within some of our shelters, they can move into a little bit more independence with 24-hour care and case management on site,” she said.
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As for options for people with drug addictions who can’t get into shelters, Master said the solution is not as easy as money.
“There is the issue of medical care being required so we were really grateful that the province had announced that they’ll create 15 spaces for those that frankly have been barred from shelters,” she said.
“We still have to have somewhere for them to go. The only option is cells right now at the RPS which isn’t what the cells are intended for.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Going into 2024, Masters said the city needs to play some catch up and needs to focus on asset management.
Ahead of the next municipal election next year, Masters said she is going to keep her promise to the city.
“I do have a four year mandate and so I think that I have a commitment to the city to continue working every day to advance and advocate for our city and to try and make the best decisions possible with the information we have available,” she said.
“So I’m going to keep doing that for sure.”
Masters’ full interview can be heard on CTV News Regina on Dec. 27 at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
