The safety of our customers and employees is a priority. The Wascana Park Pool has been equipped with modern safety features that are continuously evaluated and adjusted if necessaryunderlines the city in an email to Radio-Canada.

For his part, Regina District 2 Councilman Bob Hawkins expresses his sadness at the incident that occurred on the day the facility opened.

It was a very sad event. The pool is wonderful, there were about 200 people, the weather was great. […] I believe that after this event we will increase the number of police officers at the swimming pool to keep everyone there safe.says Bob Hawkins.

However, this incident did not deter Regina residents who wanted to use the new pool.

A local resident, Craig Wild, hopes that such an event will not happen again in the future.

I think this is an isolated case and I hope it only happens once. Someone is just trying to cause some heartache and attract a little attentionsays Craig Wild.

According to another resident, Don McQuillam, the city needs to redouble its efforts to strengthen the facility’s security.

I have lived in Regina for 30 years. It’s not a city where we do a lot of security checks, but we have to change nowsays Don McQuillam.

More than 200 people experienced inconveniences

Officers were at the scene around 2 p.m., according to a police officials statement released on Thursday.

More than 200 people were harassed by the use of bear repellents, police said.

According to police, a group believed to be four or five youths between the ages of 13 and 16 entered the premises wearing face coverings and then sprayed the bear repellent.

Following the incident, the swimming pool at Wascana Park was closed for the remainder of the day on Thursday.

The case is not yet closed.

With information from Nicholas Frew and Fred Harding