‘Experience Regina’ town hall meeting wanted by advocacy groups


A ‘complete review’ of the Experience Regina rebrand and its name was announced in April by the REAL board of directors.

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An advocacy group is calling for elected leadership at the City of Regina to hold a town hall so community members can voice their opinions on the botched Experience Regina rebrand earlier this year.

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Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan (SASS) is calling for those behind a recent controversial branding campaign by Regina’s tourism agency to be held accountable and to “work towards more responsible and respectful marketing practices.”

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“We do not have to wait for a third-party report in order to start meaningful conversations now. This is a teachable moment,” the group wrote in its letter, which was co-signed by nine member agencies.

“There is much work to be done to make this right. It is a time for reflection and change. There is always room to grow, and there is always hope. Now is the time to grow and be better, and to do better.”

In March, Experience Regina launched a rebrand and posted on its social media accounts: “We are the city that rhymes with fun.” Its website also had “Show us your Regina” written above a block of Instagram posts.

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In a letter sent this week to Regina’s mayor and each city councillor, SASS and nine member agencies said they were “deeply concerned” that a government body using public funds endorsed a marketing and rebranding campaign that was “founded on harmful language that perpetuates a culture of harassment and abuse against women.”

“We had spoke with our members and as a result of such campaigns that come out that are triggering and re-traumatizing to survivors, they had seen an increase in calls,” SASS executive director Kerrie Isaac said in an interview.

“Because of the nature of our work and what we do, we felt a strong need to advocate for this and how impactful this has been,” she said, adding some people have brushed it off as a joke.

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Isaac on Wednesday said that only one city councillor — Andrew Stevens — had responded to the letter thus far. Isaac said she was disappointed that more councillors had not yet replied.

In addition, Isaac said there has been zero accountability shown. Last month, Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL), which includes the city’s tourism agency, announced there would be a review by a yet unnamed third-party consultant, including a probe into the Experience Regina name.

Experience Regina’s moniker was short-lived as the agency responsible for tourism in Saskatchewan’s capital apologized in March and later removed the phrases online that seemed to make light of the city’s name rhyming with vagina. It also reverted back to the Tourism Regina name.

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“It clearly demonstrates why we have the second-highest rates in the country,” Isaac said of the rebrand. “Because something like this is a joke to leadership.”

The letter to mayor and council highlighted Saskatchewan’s rate of domestic violence, which is among the highest in Canada on a per capita basis. It also noted that sexual assaults in Regina have risen more than 70 per cent since 2012.

Mayor Sandra Masters called the campaign “sexist and wrong,” adding, the promotion, which received international attention, was “just bad for the city.”

Tim Reid, CEO of REAL, apologized in a March statement posted online “for the negative impact we created with elements of our recent brand launch.”

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