Regina Minute: Issue 133

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

📅 This Week In Regina: 📅

• Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Common Sense Regina. We're grateful to everyone who supports our work, especially our loyal Regina Minute readers. We hope you're enjoying a lovely long weekend with family and friends.
  
  
• City Council will meet on Wednesday at 1:00 pm, and among the items on the agenda is a motion asking Administration to report on how the Bell AI Fabric data centre campus in the Rural Municipality of Sherwood would affect the City of Regina. Ward 5 Councillor Sarah Turnbull, Ward 6 Councillor Victoria Flores, Ward 7 Councillor Shobna Radons, and Ward 8 Councillor Shanon Zachidniak note that the campus was approved at 300 megawatts, is now proposed to expand to 1.2 gigawatts, and may be connected to Regina's municipal water supply. The report would define the City's role and any agreements it has with the project, including water servicing, and assess the effects on the City's water supply, stormwater, wastewater, and other infrastructure, along with any way to recover costs from a facility outside city limits. It would also set out options to protect residents from cross-boundary noise, water, air quality, and infrastructure impacts. The motion would have Administration formally ask the Government of Saskatchewan to share the results of its environmental impact assessment of the expansion, and suggest that the assessment model combustion emissions, noise including low-frequency sound and infrasound, stormwater, and effects on wildlife. The four Councillors argue that the project's environmental and infrastructure effects on the city are largely unknown to the public.
  
  
• Ward 8 Councillor Shanon Zachidniak and Ward 6 Councillor Victoria Flores will bring forward a notice of motion calling for a Pedestrian and Cyclist Protection Strategy. The motion cites at least 14 collisions involving vehicles and pedestrians, cyclists, or e-bike riders reported by the Regina Police Service between September 18th and October 8th, which caused multiple injuries and two deaths. It would direct Administration to work with the City's Vision Zero and Complete Streets team and road safety partners on an action plan for Council to consider in the third quarter of 2027. The plan would recommend policy, regulatory, educational, engineering, and enforcement measures to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries, informed by collision data and best practices. Administration would also bring any immediate policy changes that need Council approval forward at the earliest opportunity. The City adopted the Vision Zero Safety Framework in 2024 with the goal of eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on Regina's roads.
  
  
• Council will also address the City Internal Auditor's work plan for October 2026 through December 2027, which the Audit and Finance Committee has already approved. The plan includes an audit of overtime, which cost the City about $8 million in 2024 and $8.5 million in 2025, to determine whether it is being authorized, tracked, and reported in line with City policy and collective agreements. Other audits will examine project management, with the City projected to spend more than $300 million on capital projects and programs before the end of 2026, and IT assets, on which the City spent more than $9 million in 2025. A review of training, conference, and travel expenses is also planned, which the auditor notes is not financially material but is an area of significant public interest. The Internal Auditor will also lead development of the City's first Enterprise Risk Management framework. As of September, ten audits had been completed, with management accepting all of their recommendations, and audits of the budgeting process and cybersecurity are underway.
  
  
• Regina's Administration is forecasting a 10.02% increase in utility rates for 2027. Acting Chief Financial Officer Jeff May told councillors the pressure is coming not from operations but from the need to raise revenue now for capital investments, with the five-year utility capital plan calling for $153.07 million in 2027 and $653.29 million from 2028 to 2031. Typical commercial customers would pay $146.98 more a month, or $1,763 more a year, and an early estimate for 2028 shows a further 11.35% increase. When Ward 8 Councillor Shanon Zachidniak asked how Council could reduce the rate, Deputy City Manager Kurtis Doney said projects could be reprioritized or the utility reserve drawn down, but warned the reserve is on track to fall below its recommended minimum by 2029 or 2030. Ward 2 Councillor George Tsiklis raised concerns that large projects such as the Northwest Regional Lift Station are being tendered before their designs are complete, driving up spending and debt. Administration will present proposed budgets in November, with Council's budget deliberations scheduled from December 7th to December 11th.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

In conjunction with our friends at the Saskatchewan Institute, we're hosting a Pints & Politics event on October 20th featuring Donna Harpauer, who served as Saskatchewan’s Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2024 and Deputy Premier from 2020 to 2024.

First elected in 1999, Harpauer represented her constituents for 25 years and spent 17 consecutive years in cabinet, holding portfolios including Education, Social Services, and Government Relations. Raised on a farm near Guernsey, Saskatchewan, she brings decades of experience in provincial politics and public policy.

The event will take place at Birmingham’s Vodka and Ale House in Regina from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Attendance is free, but RSVPs are required:

🪙 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!