REGINA - The controversy over the rollout of the Experience Regina rebranding continues, with stepped-up calls for an inquiry into the issue.
Last month's rebrand of the former Tourism Regina had been slammed by critics as sexist, over slogans used in the campaign launch such as “show us your Regina” and “the city that rhymes with fun.”
The controversy has since attracted international negative media attention including from comedian Bill Maher on HBO. "It was a great campaign and it is true. I've been to Regina. In the summer it's great, but in the winter it can get pretty hairy," Maher said in ridiculing the slogan.
Now, there is unconfirmed speculation that a special meeting might be held this week to discuss the controversy.
Reports in the media this week indicated there was a motion filed by six councillors calling for a special meeting to be held this Thursday at 9 a.m. at City Hall, to discuss the Experience Regina issue. The indication is they want the meeting to be open to the public.
However, as of Monday afternoon a special meeting has not been officially called, and it is not yet listed on the schedule on the City of Regina website. It has now been confirmed the meeting has been postponed.
It has been confirmed there was a meeting already between the City and the board of Experience Regina. At a media availability on April 5, Mayor Sandra Masters confirmed to reporters they had met once with the board the previous week.
“The board has a fiduciary responsibility in terms of its role, and we’ll continue to work through this. And eventually there will be a public meeting that folks can look to have a report on the findings.”
Mayor Masters also indicated at that time that she expected council would receive a report from the board regarding Experience Regina "in the next number of weeks."
Just prior to the April 5 council meeting, a protest took place at Regina City Hall with participants calling for an inquiry as well as removal of Tim Reid as Experience Regina's CEO.
Regarding any decisions on whether to remove Reid, Masters told reporters Reid was an employee of the board of directors of REAL, and “that would be up to the board of directors who again report to council.”
As for calls for an inquiry, Masters emphasized there were already meetings under way with the board.
“I think both council and the board of directors want to understand what happened. So if you call that an inquiry, then everybody wants to understand what happened.”
There had also been calls for Masters herself to resign.
“I’ve had other people tell me I should just quit, I’ve had letters written in to me that some of my councillors should quit based on past behavior,” said Masters, who added “I won’t be stepping down.”
“I think we’re trying to find a way to move forward and if additional training and education and those types of things are needed, then absolutely. If additional community involvement or focus groups or input are needed then I think that’s fair, too.”
As for whether she feels the Experience Regina name is now tainted and whether the city can move forward with that brand, Masters said: “I think it’s a requirement that the city does move forward. How it does that, I’m not prepared to comment on. I think that there are marketing folks that have way better understanding of this, I think there’s community outreach that needs to happen. I think that will be decided going down the road once things have been determined."
