Why the secrecy? Investigation unveils activists targeting the 'radical left' in Regina's municipal election

CBC has confirmed that three men with significant ties to the federal Conservative Party and the Saskatchewan Party aresome of the people behind a secretive organization that says it's targeting the "radical left" in Regina's upcoming municipal election.

Since 2021, the anonymous group, Advance Regina, has been running thousands of dollars worth of advertising on social mediaand billboard campaignscomplaining about crime, taxes and city services. It has also targeted some councillors it characterizes as "left-wing activists" who were supported by unions in the last election. Some of its Facebook posts have generated hundreds of comments and likes.

"Our side did not show up. We need you to help fix that," says the group's Facebook page.

Its solution?

"We will recruit, train and support candidates leading up to the next election," the page says.

Advance Regina bills itself as "local residents who love our city," but its website and social media presence provides no names of actual people behind the organization.

They appear to have gone to some lengths to remain anonymous. Advance Regina is not registered as a corporate body provincially or federally. The name of the person who created the website advanceregina.ca has been "redacted for privacy" from the public registry. When corresponding with CBC, the organization has done so anonymously.

As recently as June, Regina's Kaitlyn Blackmer-Tuchscherer was the group's sole public face, serving as its executive director. In the past, she was the Saskatchewan Party's director of training and a constituency organizer, and just last year Premier Scott Moe nominated her for the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee Medal for public service, according to her Facebook page.

However, when reached by cellphone on July 5, Blackmer-Tuchscherer texted, "I am no longer the executive director and have taken a step back from the organization."

Aaron Moore, a political science professor from the University of Winnipeg, said that as cities have grown and their budgets have inflated, this issue of third-party activism and donations has become more important.

He said it's concerning when anonymous organizations are active in politics.

"You get individuals who are elected who may feel beholden to specific groups or individuals, and push or pursue those individuals' agenda, and the public doesn't know who they are," he said. "If you have transparency in who's donating, we know who the interests are and you can make an evaluation on the candidate based on that."

A donation pulls back the veil

To figure out who's behind Advance Regina, a CBC reporter made a $5 donation to the organization in hopes that it might produce a receipt with additional information.

It did.

The receipt, which specified it was not tax-deductible, mentions the name of a different organization Canadians for Livable Cities (CLC) which was incorporated in Canada and Saskatchewan in 2023.

While CLC is not mentioned on the Advance Regina website, an anonymous spokesperson confirmed by email that Advance Regina is "the only active project of Canadians for Livable Cities."

CLC has three directors Trent Fraser, Dean Klippenstine and Bruce Evans all from the Regina area. Each of them has been heavily involved in politics with the Saskatchewan Party, the Conservative Party of Canada or both.

Fraser, who heads up a consulting firm in Regina, has been a Conservative Party candidate and a political organizer with the Saskatchewan Party.

Klippenstine, a Regina-based accountant, has served as a financial agent for the Saskatchewan Party's Bill Hutchinson and Conservative Party MP Andrew Scheer.

Evans is the former mayor of White City. He serves as the president of the Regina Qu'Appelle Electoral District Association for the Conservative Party. That's MP Andrew Scheer's district.

CBC reached out to all three men through their LinkedIn accounts, but none of them have replied.

Anonymous grassroots organization

CBC asked via email why Advance Regina organizers have worked so hard to remain anonymous.

The anonymous spokesperson replied, "we are a grassroots organization made up of dozens and dozens of volunteers and concerned citizens," adding, "your inquiries highlight that the media often focuses more on the messenger than the message itself."

When CBC asked how many candidates Advance Regina has recruited so far, the spokesperson suggested the organization was no longer focused on that sort of thing.

"As a grassroots organization, we have struggled to keep our website current, so your reference might be outdated," the spokesperson said. "Advance Regina has transitioned to focus on issue-based advocacy, citizen and voter engagement, and promoting awareness of the current council's poor performance."

Advance Regina deleted the reference on its website to recruiting, training and supporting candidates days after CBC first reached out. However, its Facebook page still includes that reference.

A similar organization that targets municipal election campaigns has also sprung up in Saskatoon. A Better YXE also identifies itself as a grassroots organization, though its website fails to mention anyone connected with the organization.

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix found that website was registered by Jarret Coels, a former Saskatchewan Party adviser.

Thousands of dollars of anonymous donations

The receipt for CBC's $5 Advance Regina donation was numbered 831. To confirm the receipts were in sequence, CBC made an additional donation of $3. It was numbered 832.

This seems to show Advance Regina has received more than 800 donations. CBC asked how much money it has raised so far.

"Like other non-profit organizations, donations to CLC are anonymous and not made public," the anonymous spokesperson said.

According to Advance Regina's Facebook page, it has been spending thousands of dollars on social media advertising with messages targeting "misplaced priorities and wasteful spending," and individual candidates. It also has been advocating "a new city council for Regina."

CLC is registered as a federal, soliciting non-profit corporation. According to the Government of Canada's website, those corporations must provide Ottawa annual financial statements, which will be publicly available.

According to Corporations Canada, the organization has not yet filed that statement. But the Advance Regina spokesperson said,"Canadians for Livable Cities is compliant with all reporting requirements."

Advance Regina: An origin story

Advance Regina was actually startedin early 2021, years before CLC existed.

At that time, Regina councillor Daniel Leblanc proposed banning fossil fuel companies from advertising with the city. That would have stopped companies like Federated Co-operatives Limited or Shell from placing their logo on public parks or buildings.

Leblanc said the city shouldn't make sponsorship arrangements with industries that don't align with its values, adding "I think that's the very reason why we don't want sex, drugs and rock and roll advertising on our buildings."

Dale Richardson, who works in the public relations industry in Regina, said he and many others in the business community "were just angry about this bylaw that came before council."

So a group of them organized Advance Regina to fight back.

"The recent attack on Saskatchewan's energy industry by some councillors is a slap in the face to the employers and workers at energy companies," said the Advance Regina ad, posted on Facebook by Richardson in January 2021. He has also been a political operative, having served as the Saskatchewan Party's director of communications in 2018.

"Regina's new council is in danger of being overrun by left-wing activists," the ad went on.

Councillor Leblanc's proposed advertising ban eventually failed.

'There are no third-party rules'

Richardson, who has notbeen withAdvance Regina since 2021, said the current rules allow people behind third-party municipal political organizations, whether on the left or right, to remain anonymous.

"There are no third-party rules," he said. "Nobody needs to publish who donors are or who's on the board or who's hitting send on a tweet or a Facebook post."

An emailed statement from the City of Regina seems to support Richardson's views.

"There is no requirement for any third-party[group or individual]to register to support a specific candidate's campaign or to encourage candidates to run," it said.

Richardson said that if politicians aren't happy about this, they can make changes. But he doubts the public cares.

"If you put this issue on a list of 20 issues, it would be very very very low," he said. "Probably last."

Moore, the University of Winnipeg political science professor, said that while there are stringent rules for third-party advertising in provincial and federal elections in Canada, that's generally not the case for municipalities.

But that's starting to change.

Moore said the push from the NDP to create slates of candidates in some municipal elections in Canada has prompted those on the right to become more engaged.

He said that has inspired new rules in Ontario limiting large-dollar donors.

"One of the reasons we ban unions and corporations from donating to municipalities in Ontario is because we don't want elected officials to be beholden to those interests," he said.