I need you to understand how FUCKING INSANE this story Jeremy broke is. The separatists legally obtained Alberta electoral data....and then proceeded to PUBLISH IT AS A SEARCHABLE DATABASE WITH THE NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF OVER HALF OF THE POPULATION OF THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA!!!!!

That’s not bringing the city revenue. Those events are gonna be great for people to buy tickets and go to and it will be great for small businesses and hotels and for the Brandt center, but it’s not gonna help the city bring in revenue.

Book: Clr Bezo loves KPIs. He once suggested imposing performance standards on the grades of high school teens in exchange for free bus service. But we won't do that for one of the most successful businesses in the province's history. #yqrcc

Is making public transport free “effective?” “…the relatively small difference between Victoria and NSW suggests price is not the main constraint on mode shift. Access, travel time, service reliability and the ability to make specific trips appear to matter more.” Via @theconversation.com

1. Here’s a thread on #NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) and the challenges of change in cities: First off, although it might feel that way, NIMBY isn’t unique to your city, and it’s (probably) not worse in your city than anywhere else. It’s also not surprising, since it’s largely about human nature.

This is a bang on thread from @brenttoderian.bsky.social about how politicians need to get smart on how to listen to residents but also lead and deliver at pace. All too often 'consult more/better' is code for delay, weaken, cancel action & favour the status quo while our cities stay broken...

Froh: I think we have more drive thrus & fast food restaurants & strip malls to last 10 lifetimes but that doesn't mean I'm right. #yqrcc

“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.” Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life. Common sense. Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.

I read these 2 headlines one after another btw

Which leads to a situation where the minority of council represents districts who generate massive revenue surpluses, and the majority of council represents districts who are subsidized by downtown's revenues. This sets council up to (usually) vote to loot downtown to keep taxes low /4

What a mystery. Both the Harbor Landing and Skywood developers say that people only want to live in new houses. And... they want to build greenfield! What a funny coincidence. No bias at all!

Induced Council Discourse is the phenomenon where even if you have a very short council agenda, councillors will expand discussion until they use up all available time. Here it is in action at Regina City Council today… #yqrcc

This budget season is just a lot of Council: can we get a report on this? Staff: it's in your hands? Council: oh, I meant like the same report but with better numbers S: nope. Those are the numbers. We need a decision. C: hmm a new report may have better numbers S:... C:... Report it is!

“OUR city isn’t [insert name of a much more livable & successful city here].” Trust me, we know that. It’s abundantly obvious that you’re not that city. That city made, and continues to make, much better choices with fewer excuses. The real question is, do you want YOUR city to be better or not?

Every single community group would get $100K with no questions. I would build benches for bus stops and fund block parties for every single street in Cathedral. Like, wouldn't that be more fun than a single baseball stadium?? I would want to make Regina the coolest, weirdest place I could imagine

I don't know what it says about me, but if I was suddenly a million/billionaire, I would spend my money on building tool libraries, co-op kitchens, weird housing, and libraries. Who needs a yacht when you could create a spray art park, or a test kitchen in the community centre?

Hey SaskTel I don't think the roaming rates are what I'm worried about.

Gawrsh! US emissions rising? China's falling? What are Sask's good ol'boys going to do when they can't say "But what about China??!?!" any more?

Rain in November rain in December rain in January aaaaaaaaaaaaa

i love furniture restoration videos because they show how quality is important and you can get some really beautiful, overlooked furniture if you learn certain skills IG savedbydesign.tn

I miss Tramps

Every single one of the councillors that ran on municipale inefficiencies are not talking through their amendments with city admin beforehand, creating huge time/money wastes. THEY are the inefficiencies! "efficiency vampire" councillors. #yqrcc #thecstandsforcircus

here… an hour of the watermain outside my house after the first break it was fixed and then a few days later it blew somewhere else nearby #yqrcc youtu.be/KFwsPIvdzkQ?...

It's not just a hypocrisy. It's a ridiculous, foolish hypocrisy. But also very revealing. Shows how Certain Types Of Councillors are easily suckered by Certain Types of empty business sophistry. #yqrcc

CFO: Neglecting asset maintenance & draining reserves is not prudent. Finding more efficiencies to offset these capital cost is not possible. #yqrcc

I've repeated this at nauseum. So has city administration. But choosing the political expediency of no mill rate increases or mill rate increases below inflation only pushes the bill down the road. It doesn't make the need for money disappear.

So much "something has to change. Pick one thing to cut." in regards to transit. Where was this sort of talk in the police budget debate?

Here's the graph series from Deloitte where it shows that out of every $1 of city taxes 33% goes to the city police. #yqrcc

According to Deloitte, while our police spending is far above the average vs the comparator cities, our property tax per capita is the second lowest in the group. #yqrcc

From the #YQR city budget package.

It’s common sense to proactively address/mitigate climate change. It’s common sense to reduce pollution, emissions and particulates in cities. It’s common sense to proactively cool cities, quiet cities, clean cities. It’s common sense to move more people in less space and with lower public costs.

Oh, yeah, a loophole to impose bad policy, what a great idea. #YQRcc

Members of council that say they are "fiscal hawks" but overlook, ignore or even demand inefficient land-use are simply liars. Property tax is how we fund our city and where we can actually find "efficiencies". To ignore this and instead cut amenities shows that you were never serious. #yqrcc

Parking is a cost center. It does not house people nor does it employ people. The city makes it's money on property tax. Increasing the amount of low tax yield land in our city over alternatives while we are having trouble paying for existing infrastructure is simply financial sabotage. #yqrcc

Support community centres, community grants, and community spaces in #YQR. Please sign this petition before December 10. c.org/prKR6bxQdp

Important to note that the economic benefits of events and conventions goes mostly to provincial and federal coffers: increased tourism spending on hotels, restaurants and shopping equates more PST and GST and income tax revenue.

Past Regina city councils have repeatedly kept the mill rate artificially low, according to acting city manager Jim Nicol. That was politically advantageous but now the bill is coming due and council is weighing a 15.69 per cent mill rate increase www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Federal Conservatives blame municipal "red tape" for housing soaring costs and the slow pace of development. But it's usually the right-wing city councillors who maintain or create new obstacles to urban development. Let that sink in. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

This pretty much sums up the problem. #yqrcc

The Growth Ponzi Scheme: A city builds new infrastructure. That development brings in some quick revenue. But the long-term cost of maintaining all that infrastructure is far greater than the revenue it generates. So when the bills come due, the city doesn’t have any money.

Call me crazy but "we're forced to take away your food because they won't let us take away your healthcare" doesn't seem like a winning strategy. That whole situation is so weird

I hope council is this eager to make freeloaders pay their share of tax burden when discussing a new property tax class for surface parking lot. #yqrcc

Food insecurity in Regina is getting really bad. The line for the food drop off in the church parking lot has already started at 8am. The truck doesn't come until noon. Consider donating to the Regina Food Bank or other mutual aid groups this holiday season. These are our neighbors.

Saturday, November 8th: Coffee Chat with Rashovich and Froh. McDonalds South (4651 Albert) from 10-12pm Saturday, November 15th: Beautify the City - Restorative Justice, Public Policy & the Inner Life (Research & Innovation Centre, U of R RI 119) from 9:30-12pm. RSVP Here:

Hey #YQR! There are a LOT of opportunities to be active in budget/urbanism issues coming up: TOMORROW, October 29th - QCIB Anniversary Show at The Artesian from 7-9pm Saturday, November 1st - Municipal Alternative Budget Organizing Meeting at Malty National (1130 15th Ave) at 4pm

Got a sneak peak of the new seating area for 33 & 1/3 / the new Easy Wine Bar. It's looking GREAT! So nice to have a new chill hang out spot in the neighbourhood.

NEW: “Some still insist ‘downtowns will never attract kids and shouldn’t try.’ Then they design downtown to virtually repel kids, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vancouver proves the opposite can be true...” I’m quoted in this article by @johnlorinc.bsky.social for @calcities.bsky.social

Few things did more critical damage to North American downtowns than the demolishing of old buildings to build massive expanses of surface parking, along with the widening of roads to create huge one-way “car sewers,” all based on the failed theory that surrendering to cars would “save Downtown.”

If car prices included the cost of all the time city councils spend discussing parking, no one could afford a car. #yqrcc