SAA’s Response to Regina’s Decision to Support the Globe Theatre
July 29, 2026
Tonight, the City of Regina voted unanimously to invest $1.4 million in the Globe Theatre, enough to ensure the Globe can continue operating through its 2026-2027 season.
I want to say clearly why a provincial organization is speaking about a municipal decision. What happened at Regina City Hall today is the clearest and most complete statement any level of government in Saskatchewan has made in years about the public value of the arts. Nine councillors and a mayor made the economic case, the social case, the downtown case, and the case about who we want to be as a community. They made it in their own words, and they made it unanimously. That matters well beyond one theatre and one city.
I sat at City Hall for most of the day and listened to delegation after delegation speak about what the Globe returns to this city, this province, and this country. The outpouring of support came not only from artists, arts workers, and patrons, but from the business community, from other civic and community leaders, and from councillors themselves. I was proud of our community for making the case, and for making it well.
The arts make three impressive contributions all at the same time: they build the economy, they express unique local stories, and they improve quality of life and well-being. 1 Today I watched a city council arrive at that conclusion on its own.
Tonight, I heard Regina City Council say the following things.
That this is an investment, not a handout, and that the return is real.
That the math works, even for the people at that table least inclined to spend.
That a hundred-year-old building behaves like a hundred-year-old building, and that surprises inside one are not mismanagement.
That a downtown needs places worth going to, and that safety and vibrancy are the same conversation.
That the arts belong to everyone.
That a city without arts is not much of a city.
And that the province should be at this table.
They said all of it unanimously.
The work of the Globe Theatre is far from over. But they are well equipped for it, and with this show of confidence from the City of Regina behind them, they are in a considerably stronger position to make the case for the federal funding they are seeking than they were this morning.
The work of arts advocacy in Regina is also far from over. I would say we are just getting started. Council passed a motion tonight, and motions require follow-through. The municipal budget is the next real moment, and SAA will be part of that conversation.
Recently, SAA shared an article about New York City approving a record $323 million for arts and culture, with the caption, “A powerful reminder of what’s possible when governments recognize the value of arts and culture.” When I read that article and when the SAA shared it, the idea that arts and culture could be valued and understood so deeply felt incredibly far from our current reality in Saskatchewan. Tonight it felt closer. Not because of the amount, but because of the reasoning. Ten elected people in Regina worked their way to the same conclusion, out loud, in public, and then voted.
To every councillor who voted yes, thank you. To Councillor Mancinelli for moving the motion and for the honesty of changing his position in public, and to Councillor Turnbull for seconding it, thank you.
Councillor Burton made the most actionable request of the evening, and I want to repeat it here. Buy a ticket. Get a season pass. Bring someone with you. Parking downtown is free after five. SAA will help carry that message.
To the delegates who spoke, and to the people of Regina who wrote to their councillors: Councillor Radons said almost every email she received was in support, and singled out one email from a person who has subscribed to the Globe for thirty-six years. That is what moved this. Not a strategy document. People saying what a theatre has meant to them.
And to the staff, artists, board, and donors at the Globe, who have spent months making this case while also making the work: thank you. The hard part is not over. You are in a better position for the next part of it than you were this morning.
Em Ironstar
Executive Director, Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
