People behind Regina election attack billboards won't disclose who they are or who's paying the bill

As Sandra Masters was driving home after an all-candidates mayoral forum on the evening of Oct. 27, she was shocked to see a billboard directly targeting her.

"Tired of this experience, Regina?" asked the billboard, which featured a photo of Masters and two councillors running for re-election, Bob Hawkins and Jason Mancinelli.

The first thing that jumped out to Masters, who's running for her second term in the Nov. 13 election, was the branding on the billboards: an anonymous group called Common Sense Regina.

"Social media has come to the streets," she recalls thinking. "You can put any handle you want and say anything you want."

Another Common Sense-branded billboard featured her image with three words: "Waste. Crime. Dysfunction."

Masters noted that any advertising she or any other candidate displays can't be anonymous; it must say which candidate authorized it.

It's also expensive. Masters said billboards like that can cost thousands of dollars.

As a mayoral candidate, she can't spend more than $76,000 on her campaign. Councillors can spend no more than $12,600.

But, Masters said, the rules don't stop anonymous groups from spending as much as they would like

"I would assume that they would have a candidate for mayor that they're supporting," Masters said in an interview on Nov. 1, though the billboards aren't promoting anyone in particular.

"It feels underhanded. A way to break the rules," she said. "If you're the candidate they're supporting, you get to stay perfectly clean."

After the billboards went up last week, Common Sense Regina put out a news release identifying a spokesperson: Peter McCaffrey. He lives in Alberta, where he runs the Alberta Institute, a libertarian think-tank.

In an interview on Oct. 31, McCaffrey told CBC the recently-formed network of "Common Sense" organizations is focused on municipal politics in 14 communities including Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina.

He said the organizations are also libertarian, advocating for limited government focused on core services rather than getting involved in health, education, social services or civil liberties issues. He claims the Regina organization has more than 2,000 supporters, activists and volunteers.