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Paul Dechene

@pauldechene.bsky.social

3.4K followers 660 following 5.3K posts

Writing about city council in Regina, Saskatchewan. Co-host of the Queen City Improvement Bureau on 91.3FM CJTR - www.queencityib.com. Columns in Prairie Dog Magazine. There will be swearing. Proceed at your own risk.

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 12d

Meet Harwinder & Jason & go with us on a parking enforcement adventure! New Queen City Improvement Bureau podcast, now on youtube. youtu.be/KLd99hTpUTw #yqrcc

QCIB Sep 25 2025 - Queen City Parking Cops

YouTube video by PD City Hall — Paul Dechene

youtu.be

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 2h

That should have been posted in my council live tweet account. Makes more sense there.

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 3h

Admin says that a review of the program partner list has been on the work list a long time, this motion will put a deadline to it. (2028). #yqrcc

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 3h

Froh says that stuff he removed from his amendment, he hopes to bring back later as a notice of motion. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

I don't know, man… I often disagreed with the last council. But I also often felt like I was learning new shit.

Now with THIS clown car?
Less said the better.
Except, I will say this… they shouldn't be letting the Grumpy Facebook Grandpas drive. #yqrcc /end

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

I at least wanted to get to a point where I understood what she was talking about even if I didn't end up agreeing with it in the end. /10 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

And yeah… I was curious to see where things would end up if she got to finish the financial overhaul she started in her first two years. Too bad her four years got sidetracked by Catalyst & a bunch of other dumb stuff. #yqrcc /9

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Oh… and also… her first year… I think it would be fair to say that a certain amount of … stagnation had settled into city hall over the decade-plus of the Fougere Consensus. Masters shook things up when she arrived. Some of that was pretty exciting. #yqrcc /8

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

And yeah at the same time, admin often did not deserve the kind of interrogation they received on the floor of council. There was a lot that was messed up during those four years.

And I know y'all think Masters was The Worst but seriously, she was hella smart. #yqrcc /7

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Anyway, I enjoyed that shit. I kinda dig not understanding what's going on. I mean, if it sounds like something worth trying to figure out. And Masters' back-&-forths with admin were often EXTREMELY enlightening. I learned a lot of shit during those four years. /6 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

And I will confess, I did not follow much of what she was talking about. Like, I *have* a business degree. Just. But it was over accounting — in year 2 — that I nearly flunked. That shit did not make sense. (And I swear it was accounting's problem. Not mine.) /5 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Then she shows up & basically proposes a whole new system of accounting that other cities use that would better reflect how the City Of Regina actually isn't doing so shit. She wanted to overhaul the whole financial side. She had a pretty sunny view of the city, actually. #yqrcc /4

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Her point being, yes, the city has to spend a lot of money, yes it's behind on maintenance, but it also has buckets of money in reserve to deal w/ these things, & it has built up a lot of valuable capital. And it provides good value to its citizens, believe it or not. /3 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Basically, Masters showed up a couple budgets back & basically contradicted the notion that the city was broke all the time. She went over the list of assets & said how can an organization that has this much valuable stuff be broke? /2 #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Before I go back to live tweeting council. I had something I was thinking about this week. It's about budgets and accounting and Mayor Masters and the city being broke… #yqrcc /1

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 4h

Council has been meeting for SIX hours! You know, the agenda this morning had a SINGLE item of substance on it. What the hell are they doing in there??

I thought this was the New Efficiency Crew. I thought they were going to get work done. Not chase their tails for hours every week. #yqrcc

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 6h

Poilievre, leader of the opposition in Canada, is about as prone to lying as this jackwagon & nobody can do anything about it. The media just gives these guys airtime. If you can't shut this shit down, the world is lost.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 10h

Council is about to start. I'll live tweet from @pdcityhall.bsky.social . You can watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA5y...
#yqrcc

Regina City Council | October 8, 2025 | AccessNow TV

YouTube video by AccessNow TV

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Paul Dechene

Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 11h

Who's going to tell them?

Kids don't play games on the stoop any longer because you selfish jerks keep driving over children with your cars in a giant city with robust public transit.

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 11h

One of those trucks is definitely wrong

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 11h

Lyrics for that song were literally a Prairie Dog article. I just set what I'd written to music.

RIP Prairie Dog. (In another window, I'm texting w/ PDog editor Stephen right now. He says, Hi!) #yqrcc

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 11h

BTW… I wrote a song about the Burns Hanley lot back when Harvard was convincing council to let them tear that heritage building down. Includes a little sound clip from their sales pitch. It's here… youtu.be/6vXE6uog_p0?... #yqrcc

High Noon for Burns Hanley

YouTube video by PD City Hall — Paul Dechene

youtu.be

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Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 12h

Personally… I'm like… this is better than what's there now. And better than another fucking "temporary" surface parking lot. But I don't see today's announcement as an unmitigated good news story. #yqrcc

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 12h

So anyway… I will bet you that Skuare will be on those empty lots for a decade. #yqrcc

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 12h

Wouldn't it be nice to have so much multi-million dollar properties sitting around you could load a few out? #yqrcc

Paul Dechene @pauldechene.bsky.social · 12h

So yeah… they wanted to tear down a heritage building & they knew there was a big development coming so they were all "We are about to pull the trigger on an AMAZING development!" And now they're just loaning prime downtown land out. Friggin rich people, I tell ya. #yqrcc