Regina councillor Lori Bresciani likely violated ethics rules by weighing in on pickleball lease: expert

A Regina city councillor likely violated the city's code of ethics bylaw when she urged a municipal corporation to provide a cheaper lease rate to an organization she was a member of, according to an ethics expert.

Ward 4 Coun. Lori Bresciani says she was just doing her job by passing along concerns from a citizen.

Emails obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request show that in 2023, Bresciani routinely advocated for Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) to extend its lease with Queen City Pickleball at the existing rate of $4 per square foot, rather than a proposed new rate of $10 per square foot.

Her emails to then-REAL CEO Tim Reid came after a series of emails to Bresciani from Queen City Pickleball's owner and president, Phillip Greenwood.

"I'm asking you to step forward and help me navigate what's now going on," wrote Greenwood in an email to Bresciani on Oct. 26, 2023.

Queen City Pickleball ultimately got its wish. A deal was reached where REAL's $4 lease rate was extended to the organization's expansion until at least the 2025 Canadian Western Agribition, according to the emails.

The councillor's actions likely violated Regina's code of ethics bylaw, said Ian Stedman, an assistant professor with York University's school of public policy and administration.

Stedman, an expert on public sector governance and ethics and accountability, said the details laid out in the documents show Bresciani putting herself in a conflict of interest.

Bresciani has confirmed she is a member of Queen City Pickleball and has spoken passionately about the sport at public council meetings.

Emails show that Greenwood informed Bresciani that, should the lease payments increase, it would mean the organization's "days in Regina would could to an end," leaving its 1,258 members without a place to play.

Stedman said that even if the organization did agree to pay the higher lease, it would likely pass those costs onto its members — and therefore Bresciani — through higher fees.

"Do I think it's the kind of conflict that would should lead us all to believe that the councillor is corrupt and can't be trusted? No," said Stedman.

"But I do think it's an important learning point here, that these small things add up over time, and if we're not attentive to these kind of small conflicts, what we end up doing is destroying, or at least damaging, the public's trust in our ability to do good work."

Stedman said even the perception that there is a conflict of interest can be damaging.