Former ‘family values’ politician who ran massage parlour staffed by his wife facing criminal trials

A former Regina political candidate who helped run a network of massage parlours that offered “sexual encounters” with several women, including his wife, is heading to trial on a raft of criminal charges. 

Trevor Wowk, a 65-year-old former candidate for the People’s Party of Canada, is charged with advertising and living off the avails of sexual services, money laundering, intentionally provoking a state of fear in a police officer, possession of unlicensed firearms, illegal storage of  firearms, forgery and possession and sale of illegal tobacco.  

The pretrial conference for one of these matters took place last week. The rest of the charges are set to be dealt with later this year. 

When reached by text, Wowk declined CBC's request for comment, saying he the court had forbidden him to comment publicly, adding "good luck with your article."

In the 2019 election, Wowk ran for federal office in Regina as a promoter of traditional family values. A couple years later, he leapt to prominence when he helped lead a COVID-19-related protest to the home of Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer. 

A subsequent CBC investigation in the spring of 2021 revealed that in addition to his public activity, Wowk was quietly helping run four massage parlours in Regina, including one in his own home that was staffed by his wife “Lily.”

In a text exchange with an undercover CBC reporter, Lily explained what she was offering: “The full service, which starts at two hours, provides two sexual encounters." She later clarified by saying, "you pay for two hours you get two times of sex, you got it? Baby [sic]."

Wowk confirmed that the CBC reporter had been texting his wife and he agreed that she was offering sex for a price. But he insisted this was just bait and switch — a false promise of sex for cash. 

“I can guarantee you my wife does not provide sexual service.” 

However, he also admitted, “I’m not in the room. I don’t have cameras in the rooms. I can neither prove if they do or if they don’t,” adding “what they do behind their closed doors of their massage clinics is up to them.”  

Three years after that story was published, on June 21, 2024, police executed a search warrant on Wowk’s Victoria Street home. That encounter led to the raft of charges. 

In a Facebook post, Wowk said CBC’s “slanderous political attack article” was the “main document” used by the Regina Police Service to justify its “military style home invasion.” 

Wowk’s Facebook account, entitled WarriorAgainstEvil, says the police, armed with a warrant and assault rifles, used a battering ram to break down his doors. 

He says he was placed in handcuffs and detained, as were his wife and two other women in the home.