Former REAL board chair Wayne Morsky speaks out

The former board chair of Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) issued a statement Thursday giving his perspective on some of the latest developments from Regina city council.

Last week, council decided to replace all voting members of REAL’s board of directors. Chair Wayne Morsky and all the other voting members submitted their resignation just a few hours later.

Council’s decision came in light of issues stemming from the failed Experience Regina rebrand as well as concerns about REAL’s business model and financial issues.

During last week’s executive committee meeting, councillors Terina Nelson and Andrew Stevens both said that MNP’s report about REAL’s finances were the final straw and the reason why they decided to replace the board.

However, the former board chair is offering a different story.

In his statement,  Morsky said city council and administration were well-informed about REAL’s finances, and that REAL had been completely co-operative and transparent with the city.

“As a board of directors, we have long been informing Council of the challenges facing REAL’s operating situation,” the statement read.

“The financial success of REAL is directly linked to major events and concerts. As a board, this was one of the largest risks we dealt with. It was also the primary reason we, as a board, supported commercial development on the property as a path to diversify, offset risk and increase revenue stream.”

Morsky added that REAL had taken full responsibility for the Experience Regina rebrand fiasco, which garnered international notoriety for the city.

Additionally, Morsky expressed concern about the ability of city manager Niki Anderson to take on the additional responsibility of being a voting board member for REAL, which was decided during a special council meeting last Friday.

Anderson had previously been a non-voting member, but resigned from that post last week.

“It is worth noting that during her time as an ex-officio member of the board, the City Manager attended one (1) meeting since joining the board in December of 2022,” Morsky wrote.

“If her workload did not permit her to attend board meetings where financial challenges were discussed in great amount of detail, we are concerned about her ability to take overall responsibility for the organization.”

Morsky also accused council members of berating representatives of REAL and also asking for free tickets to events for themselves, friends and family members.

In an email, the City of Regina declined to comment on Morsky’s claims. 980 CJME reached out to Morsky for further comment but hadn’t heard back by the time of publication.