Regina is the major city in the south of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the provincial capital and was previously the territorial headquarters of the North-West Territories (sic), of which today's provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta originally formed part. Regina was also the district headquarters of the District of Assiniboia. It is a city of surprising pleasantness — despite its having been established in a particularly difficult location on the Canadian prairies — and is the commercial centre of southern Saskatchewan and a cultural metropole for both southern Saskatchewan and immediately adjacent areas in the neighbouring American States of North Dakota and Montana, attracting numerous visitors for the relative vitality of its commerce, theatre, concerts and restaurants.
Origins
Regina was established in 1882 when it became clear that Edgar Dewdney, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories, eschewed the previously-established and -considered Battleford, Qu'Appelle and Fort Qu'Appelle as the territorial headquarters. In fact, Dewdney had acquired land adjacent to the route of the future CPR line at "Pile of Bones," a site entirely undistinguished other than by collections of bison bones near a small spring run-off creek, some two to three kilometres downstream from its origin in the midst of what are now arid wheat fields. This constituted a compelling private interest of Dewdney's in promoting the otherwise improbable site of Pile-of-Bones as the territorial headquarters, but until 1896 when responsible government was accomplished, the territorial lieutenant-governor and council governed by fiat and there was no legitimate means of challenging such decisions. Some very few kilometres downstream, the Wascana Creek becomes a pleasant and impressive coulee and opens into the Qu'Appelle Valley, a more suitable site for an intended metropole, but Dewdney's proprietorial interest in the improbable site he had chosen prevailed.
The village attained national prominence in 1885 during the North-West Rebellion despite the fact that the Canadian Pacific Railway had still only reached the formerly designated territorial headquarters of Troy (Qu'Appelle) some 30 miles to the east, which became the striking-out point to the northwest for troops arriving from eastern Canada by train. Subsequently the rebellion's leader, Louis Riel, was tried and hanged in Regina — giving the infant community increased and at the time not unwelcome prominence in connection with perhaps the only figure of truly mythic significance in Western Canada's history.
Regina was incorporated as a city on June 19, 1903 and was proclaimed the capital of the province of Saskatchewan on May 23, 1906 by the first provincial government led by Premier Walter Scott.
Regina (pronounced /ɹəˈdʒaɪ.nə/)—as was conventional pronunciation of Latin at the time of its founding (cf. the shouts of the Westminster choir boys at coronations of British monarchs: "Vivat Rex! Vivat Regina!")—is located at 50°26′N 104°37′W / 50.433°N 104.617°W. Regina's elevation is 577 metres (1,893 ft) above mean sea level.
Template:Canada CP 2001 Regina's metropolitan area population was 199,000 as of 2005 with a growth rate of 0.4%.
Climate and topography
Climate
Regina has a dry climate with cold winters and moderate daytime temperatures during the summer — it is normal to have a handful of summer evenings warm enough for bathing in residential subdivision swimming pools or al fresco dining on the numerous outdoor patios and beer gardens. Even after the hottest summer days in July and August, Regina nights are normally cool.
Precipitation is heaviest from June through August with June being the wettest month at 75 mm (3 in). Annual precipitation is 390 mm (15 in) with December, January and March having the most snowfall (80% of the total). The average daily temperature for the year is 2.8°C. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -50°C (-58°F) on January 1, 1885 while the highest recorded temperature was 43°C (109.4 F)on July 5, 1937.
Topography
Regina is situated on a broad, flat and treeless plain — though the land is relatively fertile and productive. But had it been positioned in the rolling, amply watered and treed parkland only a few miles to the east or northwest the task of urban planners would have been considerably lightened: the lush greenery of the brief summer and the ample urban tree canopy are entirely artificial. As with other prairie cities it was early discovered that elm was the most attractive species for the urban streetscape that was also capable of thriving in the harsh climate. Dutch elm disease is gradually encroaching and threatens catastrophic damage to Regina's entirely man-made beauty unless suitable alternate species can be settled upon.
Demographics
Age Structure
- 0-14 years: 20%
- 15-64 years: 67.5%
- 65 years and over: 12.5%
Racial Diversity
- "Caucasian": 85.7%. I.e., Europeans. Literal "Caucasians," ie Armenians and others from the Caucasus region, have never been barred from owning property in Regina, as in Vancouver and other Canadian cities.
- Aboriginal: 8.7%
- Chinese: 1.3%
- Other: 4.3%
Religious Groups
- Protestant: 41.5% (This would indicate United Church of Canada and non-concurring Presbyterian Church in Canada, Anglican Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Baptists (of various institutional groupings), and other historic Prairie Protestant denominations together with more recent arrivals such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance and assorted Pentecostalist groups)
- Roman Catholic: 32.3%
- No religion: 19.0%
- Eastern Orthodox: 1.8% (Note that this indicates, Greek, Ukrainian, Romanian and other Eastern Orthodox Christians; there is, indeed, a Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Regina, though the substantial Slavic population of Saskatchewan is concentrated to the northeast and northwest, particularly in Yorkton and Sasktatoon. It does not indicate Oriental Orthodox. Oriental Orthodox Christian immigrants of Arab, Iranian and Indian Christian origins must find an approximate community to their own, which is itself unknown in almost entirely European and aboriginal-Canadian Saskatchewan)
- Other Christian: 2.9%
- Other religion: 2.5%
Top Ten Ethnic Groups
- German 60,580
- English 48,830
- (Undifferentiated) Canadian 46,860, i.e. of mixed ethnic background
- Scottish 37,275
- Irish 30,350
- Ukrainian 23,220
- French 19,265
- Aboriginal 11,945
- Polish 11,035
- Norwegian 9,635
History
After its establishment in 1882 Regina was quickly designated as the territorial headquarters of the North-West (sic) Territories (as they were then styled) and district headquarters of the District of Assiniboia despite the fact that by 1885 the Canadian Pacific Railway had only reached Troy (later Qu'Appelle), some 30 miles to the east and at the time Regina was inaccessible other than by horse.
The CPR still had not reached Regina by the time of the Riel Rebellion in 1885 and, as the rail terminus, Qu'Appelle was the marshalling point for federal troops heading to the Northwest. However, Lieutenant-Governor Edgar Dewdney's private interests prevailed and the village became the headquarters of the Northwest Mounted Police and of the Territories, with previously established (not to speak of more pleasant, interesting and geographically vastly better-favoured) intended metropolitan centres at Qu'Appelle and Fort Qu'Appelle being neglected. The capital was moved from Battleford, which had been the capital of the Territories from 1876 until Regina's designation as capital in 1883, after it was decided that the CPR would follow a southern route through the Roger's Pass, rather than the northern route which would have seen the railway go through Battleford.
Upon the founding of the province of Saskatchewan, Regina was named the interim provincial capital. Regina became the permanent provinicial capital in 1906, following a vote of the provincial legislature. Its early history was of rapid growth which continued until the Great Depression began in 1929, at which point Saskatchewan had been the third province of Canada in both population and economic indicators. Thereafter Saskatchewan never recovered its early promise and Regina's growth commensurately slowed and at times reversed. During the 1930s and '40s and beyond, Regina was the centre of considerable political activism and experiment as its people sought to adjust to new, reduced economic realities and expectations. The city's population has stabilised in recent years at just under 200,000 but has continued to expand in physical size as the average number of people per household coninues to drop and new houses and businesses are built.
Events of national importance which occurred in Regina include:
- The trial of Louis Riel - (followed by Riel's execution) after the Northwest Rebellion (also known as the Second Riel Rebellion and the Saskatchewan Rebellion) of 1885 and, during the 1930s;
- The Regina Riot; and
- The Regina Manifesto.
Visitor attractions
- Royal Saskatchewan Museum (museum of natural history)
- Saskatchewan Science Centre (interactive science museum with IMAX theatre)
- Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery
- Saskatchewan provincial legislative building
- RCMP national training centre and museum
- Government House (Saskatchewan) (residence of NWT and Saskatchewan lieutenant-governors 1892-1945; restored to 19th century ambience and open to the public)
- Casino Regina (located in the remodeled Canadian Pacific Railway station on Saskatchewan Drive, formerly South Railway Street)
- The University of Regina — is singularly lacking in the visitor amenities of universities of longer-standing: museums, visitor centres, a general interest bookstore, a university publishing house. However, it is an important reason why many visitors come to Regina; its website (see below) is helpful.
- Exhibition Park — according to the City of Regina's website, is the second largest trade show and exhibtion space in Canada. It the venue for:
- Buffalo Days Exhibition — similar to an American County or State fair — usually held the first week of August, it now includes the Conklin Shows Midway rides which visit an assortment of agricultural fairs throughout the summer months on the U.S. and Canadian prairies.
- Royal Arabian Horse Show — the top event in the world of showing of Arabian horses in North America with several celebrities and dignitaries attending with their horses.
- Canadian Western Agribition — held in late November yearly, it is one of the largest livestock shows in North America with attendees from as far as Europe and Japan.
- Farm Progress Show — held in late spring it is touted as North America's largest dryland farming show with emphasis on the newest technology and equipment.
- Brandt Centre — a combination facility that seats up to 7500 people that serves primarily as ice surface for hockey, curling and concerts, but, also hosts the National Finals Rodeo during Agribition.
- Credit Union EventPlex — a 90.000 sg.ft. multi purpose facility that opened in the summer of 2005. It is home to Regina's indoor soccer community with its removable turf and has hosted the Brier patch (a beer gardens that holds 4600 people)for the 2006 Tim Horton's Brier and the wrestling venue for the 2005 Canada Summer Games.
Most buildings at Exhibition Park are connected by walkways and the public need not go outdoors to move about the fairgrounds.
Natural recreational amenities
As a result of its location, natural recreational amenities were almost wholly lacking in the city, but, since its inception, civic and provincial authorities have taken drastic measures to create recreational amenities where none were before.
Regina has a large percentage of its overall area devoted to park space with biking paths and other recreational facilities throughout the city. Within an hour's drive is the summer cottage country in the Qu'Appelle Valley with Last Mountain and Buffalo Pound Lakes, the four Fishing Lakes of Pasqua, Echo, Mission and Katepwa; slightly farther are Round and Crooked Lakes; there are modest skiing facilities at Buffalo Pound and Mission Lakes and Last Oak to the north of Broadview some 70 miles to the east on the trans-Canada highway.
Wascana Centre
Wascana Centre (formally established in 1962 but only giving institutional fiat to a parkland which had existed for many decades) is a 9.3 square kilometre (2,300 acre) park built around Wascana Lake. It is one of North America's largest urban parks. Wascana Centre promotional literature touts it as being larger than New York City's Central Park at 843 acres (3.4 km²) and Vancouver's Stanley Park at 1,000 acres (4 km²) and as the third largest urban park in Canada.
Wascana is derived from the Cree word Oscana meaning "pile of bones" in reference to the buffalo bones scattered around Wascana Creek before the area was populated by non-indigenous people.
Wascana Centre includes a Waterfowl Park that provides a refuge for geese and other birds that do not fly south for the winter. Speakers' Corner on the north shore of Wascana Lake features gas lamps from London and birch trees from Runnymede Meadow where John of England signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
Originally created by damming Wascana Creek to provide a town water supply, Wascana Lake was drained in the 1930s as part of a government relief project; 2,100 men widened and dredged the lake bed and created two islands using only hand tools and horse-drawn wagons. During the fall and winter of 2003-2004, Wascana Lake was again drained and dredged to deepen it by about 5 metres (16 ft), primarily to decrease weed growth to allow more competitive and recreational canoeing and paddling during the summer months. The project also included the addition of a new island and general re-landscaping around the lake. The dredging was completed in mid-March 2004, just in time for the spring runoff. The lake includes several small islands: Willow Island, Spruce Island, Pine Island, Goose Island and Tern island.
Wascana Centre contains three museums, the Conexus Arts Centre concert hall and theatre complex, the Regina College campus of the University of Regina, including the Regina Conservatory of Music (in the girls' residence wing of the Regina College building) and the Darke Hall theatre and concert venue, the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery and the provincial Legislative Building.
The Centre also contains attractive venues for cross country skiing and skating during winter and tennis, bicycling, running, and non-motorized water sports during summer. When Regina hosted the 2005 Canada Summer Games, the majority of the event venues as well as the athlete accommodations were located within the boundaries of the Wascana Centre.
Transportation
The city's public transit agency, Regina Transit, operates a fleet of buses with access to the city centre from most areas of the city. Regina's streetcar (tram) network ceased to operate in the early 1950s though the tracks remained in the streets until the 1970s and retired streetcars continued to be used as fast food kiosks and for other novelty purposes until well into the 1960s.
The CPR no longer operates regular passenger services between western Canadian cities, though in the past it constituted the principal mode of inter-urban transit. Indeed, its former station in downtown Regina — once the urban hub — has become a casino. Nowadays Regina can be reached by several highways:
- Trans-Canada Highway, from the west and east sides, roughly equidistant between Calgary and Winnipeg.
- Highway 6 from the north and south. The US border is 160 km south on highway 6.
- Highway 11 from the north/northwest. Saskatoon is 250 km NNW.
- Highway 33 from the southeast.
- Highway 46 from the northeast
The city is serviced by a ring road that loops around the city's east side (the west side of the loop is formed by the Lewvan Drive freeway). Plans call for another perimeter highway to eventually encircle the city farther out.[1] With the demise of interurban trains as a usual form of passenger travel on the prairies the Canadian Pacific train station on South Railway Street lost its raison d’être and was ultimately transformed into a casino (see below); South Railway Street itself was renamed Saskatchewan Drive and the original reason for Regina's location became a historical footnote.
Regina International Airport has recently undergone a major upgrade and expansion to allow it handle the projected increase in traffic for the next several years. Situated on the west side of the city, it has four gates that handle flights to major centres in Canada as well as daily flights to and from Minneapolis via Northwest Airlines. WestJet and Air Canada and Jazz airlines are also regularly scheduled in and out of Regina International Airport.
Education
The University of Regina
See main article: University of Regina
The University of Regina had some 12,500 students as of the 2002-2003 academic year and was rated 6th in the 2005 Maclean's magazine Canadian National Comprehensive Universities Rankings. The University developed out of the Methodist-founded (but disaffiliated in the 1930s when the financially hard-pressed United Church of Canada could no longer maintain it) Regina College, which became the Regina Campus of the University of Saskatchewan in 1965. It was granted a separate charter as the University of Regina in 1974. The original Regina College buildings on College Avenue continue in use by the University and the old Girls' Residence is now the Regina Conservatory of Music.
Federated Colleges at the University of Regina
Campion College (affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and founded by the Jesuit Order) and Luther College (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada), formerly operated as church-run private high schools offering junior college courses accredited by the University of Saskatchewan on the same basis as the old Regina College; they now have federated college status in the University of Regina as does the First Nations University of Canada which grew out of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College.
RCMP national training academy
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police national training academy is on the western perimeter of the city beyond Government House. Regina was the site of the national the headquarters of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (the RCMP'S predecessor) before "the Force" became a national body with its headquarters in Ottawa in 1920. The city takes great pride in this national institution which is a major visitor attraction and a continuing link with Regina's past as the headquarters of the Force.
Public, Separate and Private Schools
The Regina Public School Board operates over 50 elementary schools and ten high schools. The Roman Catholic (but tax-funded) Separate School Board operates over 20 elementary schools and five high schools. Luther College (Saskatchewan), operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, is the one remaining private high school in Regina in addition to being a federated college of the University of Regina (formerly there were also of course Regina College (United Church), Campion College, Marian High School and Sacred Heart Academy (Roman Catholic) and St. Chad's Qu'Appelle Diocesan School (Anglican) ), not including the recent and very small Western Christian College (see below).
Bible Colleges
The former Canadian Bible College, operated by the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church (an evangelical Protestant denomination similar to the United Church of Canada in its historical roots but with a more conservative theological and political stance) was unsuccessful in obtaining provincial accreditation for its degrees and diplomas and recently vacated its premises in north Regina to move to Calgary, Alberta. The premises have been taken over by the Western Christian College, operated by the Churches of Christ, which had previous moved from Radville, Saskatchewan to Weyburn, Saskatchewan and Dauphin, Manitoba. It has a total enrollment of some 100 students.
Cultural Life
Regina has a rich cultural life in terms of music, theatre, dance and other appurtenances of Western culture. It has a highly involved and active multicultural community, for which Heritage Canada picked Regina as the 2004 "Cultural Capital of Canada" (in the over 125,000 population category).
Mosaic
Various local festivals are held throughout the year, the most notable being Mosaic. Attracting over 200,000 visits, Mosaic consists of cultural pavilions being hosted throughout the city by numerous cultural groups. In order to attend one must purchase a passport which is stamped at the entrance of each pavilion. Among the many pavilions, the more noteworthy are the popular Kyiv Ukrainian, Scottish, Caribbean, and Irish. Although predominately European, notable exceptions include the Chinese, Indian, African, and Philippine locations, notwithstanding the extremely marginal numbers of these communities in Regina. At each pavilion, ethnic food is served to guests, who are entertained with folk dance and song. In addition, many traditional ethnic articles of clothing or items may be purchased.
There are many more traditional elements of Western cultural life in Regina, including:
Globe Theatre
- The Globe Theatre is a professional company with theatre premises in the Prince Edward Building (formerly known as "The Old Post Office" building though it was also a temporary city hall between the demolition of the old city hall on 11th Avenue between Rose and Hamilton Streets and the construction of the new city hall on Victoria Avenue) in the central business district.
Little Theatre
- The Regina Little Theatre was a major focus of community life during the winter months in past decades before the establishment of the Globe Theatre and before touring theatre and concert companies had satisfactory venues and assured audiences of commercially viable size in Regina. The RLT continues to provide valuable opportunities for local would-be actors and ongoing amusement for community-minded theatre audiences.
Art Gallery
- The Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery is located in the TC Douglas Building in Wascana Centre. It has featured many aspects of the art world from local artists to works from the old masters.
Museum of Natural History
- The Royal Saskatchewan Museum, a natural history collection that traces its origins back to 1906, is also situated in Wascana Centre, as are
The Conexus Arts Centre
- The Conexus Arts Centre (the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts from its opening in 1970 as a 1967 Canadian Centennial project until January 5, 2006, when the Conexus Credit Union assumed partial sponsorship of its operating expenses), is a theatre and concert hall complex overlooking Wascana Lake, and
Science Centre
- The Powerhouse of Discovery Science Centre contains more than 80 permanent hands-on exhibits, live demonstrations and changing exhibits. The Kramer IMAX theatre presents science, nature and now select feature films on a five-story screen with a monster Dolby surround sound system
Community orchestra
- The Regina Symphony, the longest continuously running orchestra in Canada, is an amateur community orchestra with a professional core; it performs in the Conexus Arts Centre.
University fine arts department
- The University of Regina has a large fine arts department including faculties of music and theatre. At various times this has attracted notable artistic talent: Donald M. Kendrick and Joe Fafard have been particular stars.
- The Regina Conservatory of Music operates in the former girls' residence wing of the Regina College building.
Community choir
- The Regina Philharmonic Choir was formed in the late 1970s to perform choral works with the Regina Symphony. When the University of Regina failed to renew the teaching contract of Donald M. Kendrick who had formed an extremely good university choir at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, the local musical community realised that it was in danger of losing what had immediately become a vital part of Regina's cultural life. Mrs Dorothy Peers, the wife of the then-Dean of Qu'Appelle and later bishop and archbishop of the Anglican diocese, mounted a community action plan to give the Philharmonic Choir permanence and it remains as a monument to her and Archbishop Peers's contribution to the city. There is also a fine chamber choir, Halcyon, that sang at the opening and closing ceremonies at the Canada summer games.
Dance ensembles
- Various cultural performing groups operate out of Regina, including the Tavria Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble, the Polonia Polish Folk Dance Ensemble and the Poltava Ensemble of Song, Music, and Dance.
Ecclesiastical artistic establishments
- Holy Rosary (Roman Catholic) Cathedral and Knox-Metropolitan United Church have fine large Casavant Freres pipe organs and although the city's arts community is not large enough to provide substantial liturgical musical establishments at all major churches at once, there is generally at least one such organisation at a time — variously at these two churches and at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, where the renowned Donald M. Kendrick once played and conducted.
Sports
Sports teams in Regina include the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, the Regina Thunder of the Canadian Junior Football League, the Regina Red Sox of the Western Major Baseball League, the University of Regina's Regina Cougars and Regina Rams of the CIS, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. The Saskatchewan Roughriders have the distinction of being a community-owned professional sports team and hold the Canadian record for most consecutive winning seasons. The Riders have a strong and loyal fan support base. Out-of-town season ticket holders often travel 300 to 400 kilometres or more to attend home games.
Bedroom communities
Since the 1950s, many (but not all) of the towns near Regina have been losing population as western Canada's agrarian economy reorganised itself from small family farm landholdings of a quarter-section (160 acres — the standard land grant to homesteaders) to the multi-section (a "section" being one square mile) landholdings that are nowadays necessary for economic viability. As has been occurring across western North America, some of these towns have been able to reinvent themselves as wholesome surburban communities offering shelter for city residents.
Nearby towns and villages include:
- Qu'Appelle,
- Fort Qu'Appelle,
- Fishing Lakes,
- Qu'Appelle Valley,
- Indian Head,
- White City and Emerald Park,
- Balgonie,
- Grand Coulee,
- Pilot Butte,
- Lumsden in the Qu'Appelle Valley just to the north of Regina
and the historic
- Regina Beach (the vacation resort of Reginans from its first establishment)
- The town of Rouleau (marginally famous as the town of Dog River in the television sitcom "Corner Gas") is 45 km south of Regina.
These towns and villages—and to some extent the nearby city of Moose Jaw—have enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance as a result of the excellent roads that for many decades seemed likely to doom them; they are now undergoing a mild and somewhat ersatz resurgence as bedroom communities for Regina. Particularly in June, July and August—when the Qu'Appelle Valley summer cottage country is busiest—commuter traffic on Highway 10 between Regina Beach and Regina and the Qu'Appelle Lakes and the Trans-Canada Highway between Regina and Moose Jaw rivals Toronto's Highway 401.
Urban Planning Issues
Lacking as it does any geographical or commercial raison d’être — its location is entirely a creature of bureaucratic fiat — Regina has always posed serious challenges to urban planners.
In its early days, the town was brilliantly served by town planners (notably Thomas Mawson and his patron, Premier Walter Scott) of astonishing foresight and today’s Reginans should rise up and call them blessed: Wascana Centre and Wascana Lake itself are objectively beautiful urban park features by any standard; that they were created in so unlikely a place was a triumph of imagination over reality.
In recent years, the inspiration has faltered with a downtown that has had to totally reinvent itself from being mostly mom-and-pop storefronts to being a mix of a large mall, office buildings,condos and fewer of the independent retailers. With the exception of Sears and the Bay, large chain store commercial activity has withdrawn to shopping malls in the "suburbs". — the "box stores" on Victoria Avenue East (and more recently Pasqua St. North) are an especially egregious affront to Regina’s downtown. Like almost every other city in Canada the extinction of Simpson’s and Eaton’s national departments stores, the western-based Army & Navy, and the decline of the Hudson’s Bay Company have certainly not helped. Those Reginans who choose to live in the centre of the city are today limited to the Farmers Market, the hundred or so businesses in the Cornwall Centre mall, and fewer street-side merchants than in past decades. There is no longer a single movie theatre in the CBD, the Rex, Roxie, Broadway, Metropolitan and Capitol being long gone. Parking and property taxes remain an issue to commercial activities in the city centre. Recently, the city has stated an intention to revitalize the core, and to lure commerce back into the city centre. Whether this will be carried into action remains to be seen. However, it can be said that the city is aware of the problems of the past few decades, taking counsel from the developments in comparably-sized and even much larger U.S. cities, aiming for a renewed, livelier vision of its downtown core.
Saskatchewan, as former Premier Allan Blakeney frequently said, had a population in 1929 of just under a million, when it was the third province in GNP and population of the dominion (as Canada was then styled); today Saskatchewan still has a population of just under a million, but is far from the third province. Regina’s growth, as with that of all other urban centres in Saskatchewan, which have grown rather than languishing, has been at the expense of farming and small towns in its rural areas. Absent some radically new economic development, this will clearly continue to be the case and Regina’s civic government must formulate better long-term plans to accommodate realistic expectations for what Regina will become in future years. The plans of the 1960s when the Wascana Centre was under development have long since come to very successful fruition.
Local Media
Radio Stations
- 540 AM - CBK, CBC Radio One
- 620 AM - CKRM, country music
- 980 AM - CJME, news/talk
- 88.9 FM - CKSB-1, Espace musique
- 91.3 FM - CJTR, community radio
- 92.1 FM - CHMX, adult contemporary (Lite 92 FM)
- 94.5 FM - CKCK, Jack FM
- 96.9 FM - CBK-FM, CBC Radio Two
- 97.7 FM - CBKF, La Première Chaîne
- 98.9 FM - CIZL, contemporary hit radio (Z99)
- 102.5 FM - CBKR, CBC Radio One
- 104.9 FM - CFWF, active rock (104.9 The Wolf)
===Television Stations===(On Air Broadcast numbers)
Cable Networks
Newspapers
Famous Reginans
Notable persons who were born, grew up in or established their fame in Regina:
- Scott Hartnell, NHL player
- Colin James, blues-rock musician
- Leslie Nielsen, actor
- Erik Nielsen, federal politician, deputy prime minister
- John Vernon, actor
- Beverley Breuer, actor
- Shirley Douglas, actor, daughter of T.C. Douglas; mother of Kiefer Sutherland
- T.C. Douglas, CCF premier 1944-1961 and later leader of the federal New Democratic Party
- Connie Kaldor, singer
- Jamie Heward, NHL player
- Joe Fafard, sculptor and artist
- Michael Peers, Archbishop of Qu'Appelle; Anglican Primate of Canada
- Paul Hiebert, Writer and Humourist
- Sarah Binks fictional character created by Hiebert and popularized in a comic novel and stage production
- Erika Ritter, playwright and broadcaster
- Murray Crewe, principal bass trombonist, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- Dick Irvin Jr., Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster
- William Shatner, actor (attended high school in Regina)
- Jack Semple, noted blues guitarist
- Jason Plumb, popular musician fomerly with "the Waltons"
- Donald M. Kendrick, Calgary native, choral conductor and teacher at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, in the 1970s and organist-choirmaster at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, later at Sacramento State University in California; revered teacher and mentor of a generation of Canadian choral and keyboard musicians
- Mike Sillinger, NHL player
- Mick McGeough, NHL Referee
See also
- Assiniboine First Nation
- List of mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan,
- Canadian cities
- List of Northwest Territories capitals
- University of Regina
- St. Paul's Cathedral (Regina)
- Holy Rosary Cathedral (Regina)
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- District of Assiniboia
- Qu'Appelle
- Qu'Appelle Valley
- Fishing Lakes
- Paul Hiebert
- Sarah Binks
- Trial of Louis Riel
North: Lumsden | ||
West: Moose Jaw | Regina | East: Pilot Butte |
South: Weyburn |
References
External links
- University of Regina website
- Regina on WikiTravel
- City of Regina web site
- City of Regina Property Tax Search
- City of Regina Transit
- Regina Fire Department
- Wascana Centre
- Wascana Park
- Regina International Airport
- Mosaic
- Tavria Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble
- Polonia Polish Folk Dance Ensemble
- Poltava Ensemble of Song, Music, and Dance
- History of the NWT legislative assembly
- [2] Donald M. Kendrick website
Attractions
- Casino Regina - located in the former Canadian Pacific Railway station
- MacKenzie Art Gallery
- RCMP Museum
- Regina Downtown
- Regina Plains Museum
- Royal Saskatchewan Museum
- Saskatchewan Science Centre - includes an IMAX theatre
- Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame
- Regina's Online Business Directory