Regina city councillor Terina Shaw withdraws name from consideration for safety and wellbeing committee

Terina Shaw, councillor for Regina's Ward 7, has removed herself from consideration to be a member of the city's proposed community safety and wellbeing committee, just one day before city council was set to discuss the matter.

"I have come to the realization that my presence on the committee could be a distraction to the work that it will be doing," Shaw said in a statement released Monday. 

"A question made by me has been misconstrued and in no way reflects my views regarding the important issues that the committee will be addressing."

Shaw did not respond to a request for comment for this story by deadline.

Shaw previously came under fire for asking a question at an executive committee meeting in January that critics said implied Indigenous men were sexual predators.

In June she was criticized for another question related to some Indigenous people supposedly choosing to be homeless.

Regina's Mayor Sandra Masters apologized for Shaw's comments at an off-camera portion of a city council meeting earlier this summer. 

A complaint was filed against Shaw with the city's integrity commissioner, and a petition circulated calling for her to resign or be relieved of her duties as a city councillor.

Shaw has not apologized for her comments publicly, nor did she apologize for them in her statement Monday.

Committee to address root causes

The goal of the proposed committee is to explore how complex root causes related to crime and safety can be addressed through collaboration between private citizens, businesses and public officials. 

Six key areas were identified through community consultation:

• Domestic violence and intimate partner violence.
• Food insecurity.
• Problematic substance use.
• Racism and discrimination.
• Safety and service systems (networks of organizations that support individuals and groups through things such as mental health problems and substance use).
• Education. 

Council already previously approved $655,000 for the committee and its work, of which a report provided in the city's agenda said roughly $300,000 remains.

With Shaw out of the committee, nine other people will serve as members until December 2023.

They are: 

• Jada Yee, the director of business development with File Hills Tribal Council, and a Regina Board of Police Commissioners member.
• Kim McKay-McNabb, a First Nations woman from Zagime Anishinabek and member of George Gordon First Nation with a PhD in clinical psychology.
• Milad Alishahi, a partner at MLT Aikins LLP who has advised municipalities in Saskatchewan on various matters and who serves as a director for SaskEnergy.
• Nathalie Reid, the director of the Child Trauma Research Centre at the University of Regina.
• Yaya Wang, the head of Canadian human resources for CLAAS of America, an agricultural equipment manufacturing company, and a former CBC Saskatchewan Top 40 winner.
• Scott Wells, the director of business process and analytics at SaskEnergy.
• Mike O'Donnell, former Ward 8 city councillor who served for four terms from 2002 to 2020.
• Scott Law, a Regina-based information technology expert.
• Donna Zeigler, the executive director of the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation.

The new committee is set to be discussed at Wednesday's 1 p.m. CST council meeting. Regina's executive committee previously recommended council approve the related agenda items.