Advance Regina has endorsed this candidate. But he doesn't want its support
Advance Regina has not responded to request for interview or answered emailed questions
A candidate who is being endorsed by an anonymous organization attempting to influence the Regina municipal election says he doesn't want their support.
Dan Rashovich is a former Saskatchewan Roughrider and a candidate running in Ward 1.
On Wednesday, he spoke to media in front of Regina city hall.
"I want to make it clear that I'm running independently," Rashovich said. "I don't want people to perceive that I'm being either funded or affiliated with Advance Regina."
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The anonymous organization Advance Regina sent out a mailer this week showing Rashovich's face with a series of checkmarks next to statements such as: "Will you fight any proposed tax hike or user fee increase?"; "Will you cancel the $240-million Lawson pool project, and other pet projects like electric busses"; and "Will you focus on municipal issues and avoid woke, provincial or federal issues."
All other candidates running in Ward 1 have question marks on the advertisement.
Rashovich said he has filled out questionnaires from multiple groups since registering as a council candidate with the City of Regina and confirmed Advance Regina was one of them.
He never got a response back from the organization and didn't think much of it until a few days ago when the mailers began landing in people's mailboxes.
"The first time I saw it was when I had a constituent email it to me and asking me, questioning me on the mailout, and I said, 'Oh my God,'" Rashovich said.
The council candidate said his responses to the questionnaire were paragraphs long and were nuanced — details that are missing from the mailer.
That's what forced him to clarify his stance on Wednesday, Rashovich said.
"A lot of issues are not a yes-no," he said.
What is Advance Regina?
Advance Regina has not responded to an interview request and has not provided answers to a series of questions submitted by CBC.
The organization has billed itself on Facebook as "local residents" who are tired of "pet projects, ideological decision making and terrible policies."
Since 2021, Advance Regina has paid for thousands of dollars worth of advertising on social media. It has also purchased billboard campaigns complaining about crime, taxes and city services.
This mailer campaign appears to be the latest attempt at persuading voters.
It's not clear how many advertisements have been sent out or how many of Regina's 10 wards have been targeted as part of the campaign.
CBC has been able to obtain mailers targeting races in Ward 1 and Ward 2 and observed photos of mailers for Ward 6.
According to the organization's Facebook page, Advance Regina "will recruit, train and support candidates leading up to the next election."
It's unclear the number of candidates — if any — who have been recruited by the organization or what kind of training and support have been provided.
CBC News attempted to speak with another candidate identified in an Advance Regina mailer.
George Tsiklis told us he would not talk about Advance Regina and then hung up. He did not respond to further requests for comment.
A CBC investigation earlier this year found Advance Regina was not registered as a corporate body provincially or federally and that the name of the person who created the advanceregina.ca website was "redacted for privacy" from the public registry.
The investigation was able to identify that donations to Advance Regina produced a receipt mentioning Canadians for Livable Cities.
At the time, Canadians for Livable Cities had three directors — Trent Fraser, Dean Klippenstine and Bruce Evans.
All are from the Regina area and have been heavily involved in politics with the Saskatchewan Party, the Conservative Party of Canada or both.
3rd-party organizations and elections
Advance Regina is not the only third-party organization looking to make an impact in this civic election.
Common Sense Regina has purchased billboards attacking a trio of incumbent candidates. As CBC reported earlier this week, the organization refuses to disclose who they are or who is funding their operations.
For municipal elections, advertising from a candidate must identify which candidate authorized it. Candidates are also limited by how much they can spend on a campaign. Mayoral candidates have a cap of $76,000, while council candidates can spend no more than $12,600.
The rules do not apply to third-party organizations, which can spend as much as they want.
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With files from Geoff Leo