Regina Minute: Issue 115

Regina Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Regina politics

📅 This Week In Regina: 📅

• City Council meets on Wednesday at 1:00 pm, and one of the items on the agenda is the City's audited 2025 Annual Report and Public Accounts, the documents Regina uses to demonstrate accountability under provincial law. The audited statements show the City's net debt position grew to $190.5 million in 2025, up from $136.8 million in 2024, which Administration attributes largely to investments in water treatment renewal and the Water Network Expansion that are to be repaid from future fees. The City recorded a $117 million consolidated operating surplus and an accumulated surplus of $2.95 billion, most of it tied up in capital assets such as roads, buildings and underground infrastructure, and it retains an AA+ credit rating. 
  
  
• The report headed to Council has drawn outside criticism, after it revealed the City's three highest-paid officials in 2025 received a combined $1.1 million in remuneration and none of them still work for the City. Former City Manager Niki Anderson was paid $460,381, including $245,565 in other remuneration covering items such as termination amounts, despite being fired in a 10-1 Council vote in July. Roberta Engel, Acting Chief Executive of the Regina Exhibition Association, earned $343,241 before leaving for the private sector, and dismissed Police Chief Farooq Sheikh received $306,417. 
  
  
• Also on Wednesday's agenda is a notice of motion from Ward 2 Councillor George Tsiklis asking Administration to prepare capital funding requests for the 2027 budget to retrofit marked but unlit crosswalks and pathways in the Harbour Landing neighbourhood. The motion points to crosswalks at Jim Cairns Boulevard and pathways along the Wascana Creek environmental reserve that were built without lighting, leaving dark corridors that residents say they are afraid to use after dark. It would direct staff to report on illuminating priority crossings, starting with James Hill Road at the walking path, using LED lighting and accessibility features such as tactile surfaces and curb ramps, with interim measures like temporary beacons deployed as early as 2027. The motion also seeks lighting along the creek pathways on one side by mid-2028 and both sides by 2030, and asks staff to identify funding sources and offsets to limit net new spending. No total cost is attached at this stage, since the motion only directs a report back.
  
  
• The Regina Police Service is promoting a Safe Transaction Zone where residents can complete in-person sales and exchanges arranged through online marketplaces. The space is a well-lit, video-monitored area in the parking lot on the north side of police headquarters at 1717 Saskatchewan Drive. Police describe it as one of several crime prevention programs offered by the service. The zone is meant to give buyers and sellers a safer, monitored location to meet rather than completing exchanges at private homes or unfamiliar spots.
  
  
• Unfortunately, we have had to postpone our Pints & Politics event which was scheduled for Friday, June 12th. Thank you to everyone who RSVP’d and was planning to attend. We really appreciate the support, and we apologize for the disappointment and short notice. Please keep an eye out for an announcement of the new date soon!

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

The City of Regina has launched an online survey asking residents how often they visit downtown, what they value about the area, and where future investment should be directed.

If you have views on the future of the downtown core, you can share them through the City's Be Heard Regina engagement platform:

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

This week's sponsor is you! We don't have big corporate backers, so if you like what you're reading, please consider making a donation or signing up as a monthly member.

Having said that, if you are a local business and are interested in being a sponsor, send us an email and we'll talk!