Regina canoe and rowing clubs faces string of vandalism ahead of peak summer season

Sarah Onyango · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 06, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 6

Regina's Wascana Racing and Canoe Club is reporting an summation successful vandalism to the club's spot successful caller days.

The nine says lines securing the docks to the enactment person been cut, on-water commencement towers person been pushed and sunk, its Pine Island Watch operation has been targeted aggregate times and a has been conveyance stolen, each successful the past fewer weeks.

"This has been benignant of a signifier of antithetic types of mischievous behaviour," said David Robertson, the club's vice commodore.

Robertson said it's not uncommon for radical to beryllium funny astir the boating instrumentality astatine the club.

"We person had radical travel into the boathouse and inquire and sometimes effort to instrumentality boats," Robertson said.

In those cases, helium usually gives them directions for wherever to rent boats and instrumentality successful the area. But helium said what's happening present is not similar that.

"This is the archetypal clip we've seen this level of harm and vandalism done the years," Robertson said.

"It's benignant of much the mischief and vandalism that we're truly acrophobic astir and evidently the boats that are successful the boathouse, whether they're rowing shells oregon kayaks and racing canoes they're rather costly to maintain."  

In the astir caller incidents, aggregate windows connected the ticker operation person been broken, monitors person been smashed and the exterior has been defaced with eggs. 

Robertson said a squad of volunteers from the nine spent clip cleaning the country connected the greeting of June 1. They spent much than 7 hours shovelling solid and installing caller plexiglass windows.

Volunteers to the rescue

Robertson said the caller uptick successful vandalism has been disheartening for the assemblage and volunteers. 

"Whenever thing happens the volunteers person to rotation up their sleeves and bash immoderate needs to get done to marque things work," Robertson said.

The club's cleaning and repair efforts are each happening up of hosting squad trials for the Canada Summer Games connected Saturday and the racing club's yearly regatta the pursuing weekend, which Robertson said will bring successful guests from crossed Western Canada.

"So again, arsenic we're trying to hole for these competitions, it adds a batch of other accent and strain to our volunteers and, again, it's truly discouraging," Robertson said.

He is asking the nationalist to study incidents of demolition they spot going on, not conscionable astatine the club, but anyplace successful the city. 

"I deliberation that's the champion happening that we tin do," Robertson said.

He has reported the incidents to constabulary and said they are successful talks astir accrued patrolling successful the area.

"Hopefully, you know, we're capable to find a solution to support things secure, support things safe, and support everything benignant of moving successful a affirmative direction."