Rotary Club of Regina

Club Meeting Report  May 4, 2026

          In-person, Delta Hotel, 12:00 Noon

1. Meeting Chair:

   President Russ opened the meeting by welcoming all club members, the members of the Eastview Club who joined us today, those joining us via ZOOM, our guest speaker and two individuals who were to be inducted as new members.

   He then provided our land treaty recognition. “We are on Treaty 4 land. We recognize our rights and obligations under Treaty 4. As Rotarians, we seek to strengthen relationships between nations and to improve understanding of local Metis and First Nations.  In doing so, we rely on our 4 Way Test to be our guide in what we think, what we say and what we do.”

   O Canada was led by Allen Hillsden of the Eastview Club followed by the blessing by Carole Bryant.

   After lunch President Russ was very pleased to induct two new members: 

• Odianonsen Peter Ebhabah (Peter).

  Peter is a project manager at SGI.  Peter manages projects related to information and communication technology primarily in the mobile telecommunications industry and the insurance industry. Peter worked for about 20 years, largely in Africa, doing applications and technology infrastructure builds, deployment, operations and support.  Peter has now been doing this type of work in North America for the last four years. Peter has worked with multinational companies, including Ericsson, Huawei, Rogers and now SGI Canada. 

Peter is married with 3 children. His eldest, a daughter attending the U of R is already volunteering for Rotary!

Peter is a big fan of tennis and is a member of the Lakeshore tennis club.

• Abdulbasit Salame (Basit). 

  Abdulbasit has wide ranging experience and interest. He has professional experience in banking and consulting. He is an enthusiast in information technology. Abdulbasit has a deep passion for the process of growth, whether its developing technical systems, cultivating the land or building community. Since moving to Regina Abdulbasit has participated in a community garden.  He is a farmer and an avid golfer. He is currently a systems advisor at Affinity Credit Union.

  Welcome Peter and Basit!

2. Speaker Name & Presentation:

Our speaker today was Srivathsan (Sri) Raghaven, CFA, CIM, Portfolio Manager and Investment Advisor, Wealth Management, RBC Dominion Securities. A most informative and interesting presentation on the State of World Markets. His key question: When will the war in Iran end?  He discussed: What will the world look like afterwards: Energy, Inflation, Interest rates, Credit Risk and Geopolitical. Where do things stand with AI? He also discussed Canadian specific risks – CUSMA, Consumers, Population Growth. He covered the challenges facing the market today and in the impact of inflation and how AI can be both a benefit and a challenge. He believes AI will evolve similarly as to how now things did with the introduction of the internet. He anticipates 2026 will overall be a good year. 

The Middle East situation is more a disruption than a destruction. There is a backlog of some 500 ships, significant unquantified damage across the board and it will take some 6 months to restore non-damaged production. All of this resulted in significantly reducing oil production, refining capacity and LNG export capacity.  The resulting increase in costs such as for fuel will push inflation. 

He commented on how the TSX had a good year fueled by the price of gold. As far as Canada is concerned areas of strength going forward are copper (which we have in abundance), uranium

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(Cameco is the worlds largest producer), and fertilizer (Nutrien has a price advantage over other counties as it has a cheaper source of natural gas used in the production of the fertilizer).

Sri commented on the US economy, overall government debt, and Sovereign Wealth Funds.

His comments were very encompassing and any further attempt by me to comment would only be a disservice to his informative presentation.

Sri answered a few questions from the floor and was properly thanked by President Russ.

3. Birthday and Anniversaries:

   Birthdays: Art Wakabayashi - May 12^th; Moses Nkachukwu - May 13^th; Joanna Alexander - May 20^th

   Anniversaries: Mark Stefan - 18 years, Bob Nell - 41 years; Doug Keam - 42 years

4. Reports and Announcements: 

• Community Service at Soul’s Harbour on May 21^st. Signup sheets were available. Our next date is June 18^th.

• Love Your Neighbour Banquet “Rooted in Hope” fund raiser for Souls’ Harbour May 13^th. Regina Apostolic Church, 808 Assiniboine Ave. East. Doors open at 5:30. Ticket - $50, tables of 8 - $300.  For tickets phone 306-681-5157.

   

• AI ON THE PRAIRIES 2026 -The club has received $900. For recognition creating the fund-raising dinner - AI ON THE PRAIRIES. Thanks to Adewale and Joanna for preparing the grant application. Volunteers needed to assist on the day of the event - June 11th, 5:30 PM, Delta Hotel. Sign up sheets available or contact Adewale (adeyyemo@gfmail.com) or Joanna (joda59@accesscomm.ca). Please sign-up to make this successful. We have all received information on this via Joanna’s May 4^th e-mail advising us of the agenda and ticket prices for Rotarians. Can you sponsor a student?

• Eastview Club Golf Tournament - Friday July 3^rd. $175.00. Tee Off 10:00 am. Dinner: 4:30 Tor Hill Golf Looking for teams and volunteers. Contact John Van Koll - vankollj@sasktel.net.

5. Other Newsworthy Items:

Thanks to Stewart Graham for organizing today’s meeting and acting as the club reporter, Ian Yeates and Ian Toms for setup and take down of the equipment, Al Goudie and Doreen Pankewich for attendance, Allen Hillsden for leading us in O Canada, Carole Bryant for the Blessing, George Carson for conducting the 50/50 and Doug Keam for the Four Way Test.

6.  Attendance: Regina Club - 14; Eastview Club - 10; Zoom - 1; Guests - our speaker Sri Raghavan.

7. Next Meetings:

• May 28^th - hosted by Eastview Club
• June 1^st - hosted by Regina Club. In-person. Delta Hotel 12:00 Noon.
  • Speaker - Jeff Keshen, President U of R