CALGARY, Alta — The failed Experience Regina experiment is back in the news and has won an award for waste.
Tuesday, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation presented its 26th annual Teddy Waste Awards to the City of Regina for its failed Experience Regina rebrand; CBC President Catherine Tait for handing out millions in bonuses while firing employees; and the Mission Cultural fund for its sex-themed artistic performances.
“At the very least, the world got to experience Regina’s waste of money and get a laugh out of it,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Regina taxpayers aren’t laughing about flushing thousands of dollars on slogans like ‘Show us your Regina,’ and ‘Regina: the city that rhymes with fun.’”
The CTF says REAL and the City of Regina wasted $30,000 on a failed rebrand of its tourism entity that sparked a month-long campaign of backlash, ridicule and international media attention.
Five days after the rebrand was launched, the creative team behind the effort was forced to apologize. And a month later the entire rebrand was scrapped, with the city entity reverting to Tourism Regina, the CTF points out.
The botched rollout of the rebrand of Tourism Regina into Experience Regina was a major story 2023, as reported by SASKTODAY.ca. The rebrand included the use on social media of sexually charged slogans such as “show us your Regina” and the “city that rhymes with fun.” Regina Exhibition Association Ltd., which ran Experience Regina, quickly apologized and ordered an independent report on the matter, and changed the name back to Tourism Regina. The decision was also made for city administration to take over running the organization from REAL.
Other winners
The Teddy, a pig-shaped trophy the CTF annually awards to governments’ worst waste offenders, is named after Ted Weatherill, a former federal appointee who was fired in 1999 for submitting a raft of dubious expense claims, including a $700 lunch for two.
Other winners this year are:
Provincial Teddy winner: Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Alberta Foundation for the Arts spent $25,000 flying an artist around the world to produce art few taxpayers would ever willingly buy or pay to see.
Federal Teddy winner: CBC President Catherine Tait
Tait handed out $15 million in bonuses to CBC brass in 2023 as she announced hundreds of layoffs weeks before Christmas and lobbied the government for more money. Bonuses at the CBC total $114 million since 2015.
Lifetime Teddy winner: The Mission Cultural Fund
The Mission Cultural Fund spent $10,000 on a birthday party for Margaret Atwood in New York, $52,000 for a photo exhibit for rockstar Bryan Adams, $8,800 on a sex toy show in Germany and $12,000 for senior citizens to can talk about their sex lives in front of live audiences.
Here is where you can find the backgrounder on this year’s Teddy Waste Award nominees and winners.
