REAL ex-chair claims Regina councillors ignored organization, often asked for free event tickets

Former chair of the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) board of directors, Wayne Morsky, has spoken out for the first time since being removed by city council last week.

The former chair of the Regina Exhibition Association Limited's (REAL) board of directors claims city councillors seemed to show little interest in the organization outside of fishing for free event tickets.

Wayne Morsky and the rest of the REAL board were dismissed last week in a tight 6-5 city council vote over concerns about REAL's current $17 million debt. The entire board resigned following the vote.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Morsky said invitations to meetings where these financial challenges were discussed were always extended to councillors, but attendance "varied."

He also singled out the attendance record of city manager Niki Anderson, who along with six city employees she nominated, has formed a new interim board with council approval.

Morsky said Anderson previously held a non-voting role with the REAL board but did not often participate in meetings.

"The city manager attended one 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," said Morsky.