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The City of Regina has cleared a long-standing encampment at Core Community Park, commonly known as Pepsi Park, citing a sharp rise in fire incidents and a high-risk safety assessment conducted over the weekend. Fire officials said the growing danger left them with little choice but to act.
Residents Left Without Warning
Around 150 people had been living at the site for roughly three and a half months. However, the city gave no advance notice before dismantling the camp. Some residents returned to find their tents and belongings already gone.
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One former resident, identified only as Natalie, described the shock of arriving at the park to find nothing left. “My tent is gone. I didn’t even know this was happening at all,” she said. Police and fire crews closed surrounding streets during the operation, while officers placed “Do Not Cross” tape around the tents and city workers began erecting a fence around the property.
Community Organizers and Councillor Caught Off Guard
The sudden clearance also surprised community organizers and at least one city councillor. Councillor Shanon Zachidniak said she only learned of the operation after it had already begun. “I had no idea this was happening until I found out as it had already started,” she said. She added that she rushed to the scene to understand the plan and ensure displaced residents would have somewhere safe to stay.
Community organizer Shawn Koch criticized the approach. “This problem just keeps getting worse and I know nobody wants to look at it, but it’s not going away,” he told Global News. “This is not the way to deal with it.”
Fellow organizer Mandla Mthembu raised further concerns about residents losing not only shelter but also personal items and essential medication. “When you come back to the spot that you’ve called home for over three months, and nothing is going to be here, none of your friends are going to be there, and none of your belongings are going to be here,” he said. Among those belongings, he noted, could be keepsakes and critical medications such as insulin.
City and Province Working on Support Options
Mayor Chad Bachynski acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. He said the city had been working with the provincial government to establish some form of transitional or triage space for encampment residents before the clearance took place.
“We were working with the province to try and open up some kind of space, whether it’s a triage space, a transitional space, something so they can get out of the encampment, out of the elements, and into somewhere where they can then navigate people on where they need to go,” Bachynski said.
In November, city council approved updates to its encampment response strategy. Those changes included the creation of the CARE Team and a shift toward care-focused responses rather than enforced removals. However, the Pepsi Park clearance appeared to move outside that framework, at least in the eyes of those caught off guard by the decision.
As colder weather settles over Regina, the roughly 150 people displaced from Core Community Park now face urgent questions about where they will go next and what support, if any, awaits them.
