Regina city council votes to remove REAL board of directors

The move toward the potential dissolution of Regina Exhibition Association Limited continued Wednesday, with Regina city council voting to remove REAL’s board of directors.

Council voted in favour of directing city administration to bring a report back to council about the viability of dissolving REAL and having it be absorbed by the city.

That motion was approved 6-5, with councillors Andrew Stevens, Lori Bresciani, Dan LeBlanc, Terina Nelson, Cheryl Stadnichuk and Shanon Zachidniak voting in favour of it.

Mayor Sandra Masters and councillors Bob Hawkins, John Findura, Jason Mancinelli and Landon Mohl voted against.

Prior to the vote, Stevens put forward an amendment to the motion stating that REAL’s board of directors be replaced with council appointments nominated by city administration.

“While REAL and its governance and operational leaders are meant to be held at arm’s length from council, at the end of the day it’s the 11 of us who are responsible and accountable to members of the public and I can’t go ahead with the current structure,” Stevens said.

On Wednesday evening, the city sent out a news release stating that all voting members of the REAL board of directors had officially submitted their resignation to the city.

“City administration’s next step will be to present special resolutions to council for their consideration (and) proposing appointees to the REAL Board. As directed by council, the proposed appointees will be nominated by city administration and may be members of administration, members of council, or members of the public,” the release read.

“The date on which special resolutions will be presented to council is yet to be determined.

“The City of Regina is confident in — and extends its appreciation to — the management and staff at REAL, as they continue to deliver essential day-to-day operations throughout this transition at the Board level.”

Stevens’ amendment also recommends that administration’s report into dissolving REAL be brought to council in the fourth quarter of the 2023 fiscal year instead of Quarter 2 of 2024 as originally recommended.

The final component of the amendment said these would be considered interim measures until administration provides council with its report.

Stevens said he had thought about the motion for quite some time and was swayed by independent accounting firm MNP, which had presented its findings to council last week.

MNP highlighted that REAL’s debt exceeded $17 million.

“I think for me, the final moment was with the MNP report which casts doubt over the financial picture presented to us, (as well as) the various reports from REAL,” Stevens said.

The MNP report also suggested that an alternative management model might better align with city priorities and provide space for efficiencies as further options and recommendations.

“To be honest, that means that I cannot in good conscience approve a financial ask in this upcoming budget without a change in the governing body and its leadership that is required to answer to council in some capacity,” Stevens said.

Earlier in the day, Mancinelli began the discussion by explaining why he thought eliminating REAL was too drastic and too quick.

He had previously voted against the motion to look into the idea of dissolving REAL when it was forwarded at last week’s executive committee meeting.

“REAL’s debt brought this matter here today and we’re considering going down the road of dissolving REAL because of that debt, but that doesn’t make the debt go away,” Mancinelli said.

He said the debt would be added to while the matter was investigated, noting that REAL’s debt had risen by a quarter-million dollars over the past six months.

“Before agreeing to add another half-million or more to study and analyze and plan — we don’t have money for consultants and planning like that on this matter right now — I’d like you to please consider some of the lessons we’ve already paid for as a council and learn from them while we’re making this decision and give it really careful, sober consideration,” he said.

Mancinelli motioned for the decision to be put off for a couple of months, especially given that the city had already recently decided to absorb Tourism Regina back from REAL. His motion was defeated 6-5.

Masters, Hawkins, Findura and Mohl joined Mancinelli in voting in favour of the motion while Bresciani, Stevens, LeBlanc, Zachidniak, Stadnichuk and Nelson voted against it.

Mayor Sandra Masters

When speaking to reporters after the meeting, Masters said she wasn’t sure if she had fully processed the decision to approve the motion to look into dissolving REAL.

“To lose that sense of corporate knowledge is not ideal but I think what the public needs to know is that it is a really important civic asset,” she said.

Masters said REAL’s behind a huge portion of the city’s sports and recreation tourism and she doesn’t want anything to be at risk as it relates to sponsorships or events from across the country being bid on.

“At the end of the day, we still have a budget to get through. We still have an asset to manage,” Masters said while explaining why she voted against the amendment to remove REAL’s existing board of directors.

“The management of that asset is behind upwards of 70 per cent of the tourism dollars that come into the city and so (part of the reason is) not really wanting to undermine the stability of that.”

Housing accelerator

Council also unanimously approved a motion to allow administration to prepare bylaw amendments to allow for more housing densification through additional units in either new buildings or to existing buildings.

This was approved in hopes of accessing more than $36 million in funds from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.

Zachidniak was away for the vote and Bresciani recused herself from the vote due to a conflict of interest.