As Regina debated a mosque’s decision to broadcast a call to prayer, Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich forwarded an email to his colleagues that contained what experts say is the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which falsely suggests immigrants are attempting to replace a country’s white population.
The email, obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request, says the Islamic call to prayer or adhan is a “strategic tactic” to expand Islam in Canada through changing demographics.
“Thank You for your email. You nailed it!” Rashovich wrote in an email CC’d to every member of Regina city council, as well as Regina police Chief Lorilee Davies, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and provincial Justice Minister Tim McLeod.
Rashovich declined multiple requests for an on-camera interview. Instead, in a series of emailed statements, Rashovich said he did not see the email’s entire contents before sharing it.
The city councillor said his “You nailed it!” response was referring to a different email from the same sender — an email that doesn’t refer to the great replacement conspiracy theory. That email was redacted when provided to CBC.
But one of Rashovich’s colleagues did not interpret Rashovich’s comment as reacting to a different email.
Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores pushed back on the email containing the Islamophobic screed, saying the City of Regina needed to call the email “exactly what it is.”
“This unnamed person is explicitly calling for violence and the destruction of places of worship in our city,” Flores wrote.
Rashovich told CBC he could not comment on the “accuracy of religious interpretations,” and that he did not respond or agree with the email that contains the passage with the conspiracy theory in it.
Amin Asfari, a professor and researcher at the University of Regina, says the email promotes fears that Europeans or Canadians with European heritage are being replaced through a so-called “white genocide.”
Jasmin Zine, a professor of sociology and religion at Wilfred Laurier University who has studied Islamophobia, says the conspiracy theory is prominent among white supremacists, nationalists and neo-nazis.
This example, which hinges on Islamophobia, preys on fears of replacement.
“It assumes there’s kind of a nefarious intention by people who are immigrants,” Asfari said.
‘A glaring hypocrisy’: professor
Rashovich made his own views on the broadcast of the adhan clear in an email dated July 6, 2026.
The email shows Rashovich responding to an email that is entirely redacted. Rashovich’s response is CC’d to the rest of council.
“I agree this should not be happening,” Rashovich said, saying he believes in freedom of worship but not at the “expense of publicly expressing this on everybody.”
Rashovich says the country was founded on “Judeo Christian values” and that “Religion and Politics should not mix.”
“Every religion has the right to worship who and how they want and this should be done within their church besides some outdoor events or marches that happen,” Rashovich said.
He goes on to say that the city’s noise bylaw allows the broadcast of the adhan “when it should not be allowed.”
“We do not need others religious messages being broadcasted. That is for every Religion,” Rashovich wrote.
When asked whether he stands by this email, Rashovich said that it must be read in context.
Asfari said the email is an example of hypocrisy from Rashovich.
The University of Regina professor said the email shows Rashovich acknowledging that religious freedom is a central concept to the Canadian identity, while also stating that certain aspects of faith should be relegated away from the general public.
Asfari said religions often use a call to prayer. In Christianity there is the ringing of church bells, in Judaism the shofar horn is used and Islam uses the adhan.
“There’s a glaring hypocrisy, and it comes across rather consistently, when people like this speak about what they believe to be the kind of supreme or dominant narrative that must be there, and then the other, which is foreign, must be tucked away,” Asfari said.
The email
Rashovich’s email that CC’s the Islamophic conspiracy theory was sent on the evening of July 14, 2026. CBC obtained it through a freedom of information request filed with the City of Regina.
At that time, the Regina City Jamia Masjid mosque had recently paused its plans to broadcast the adhan over the noon hour on Fridays.
The mosque had obtained a permit from the Regina Police Service allowing it to broadcast the three-minute call over rooftop speakers once a week, under the city’s noise bylaw.
M. Anisur Rahaman, director of the Regina City Jamia Masjid, told media that he later decided to pause broadcasts because the mosque had received threats after the first broadcast.
M. Anisur Rahaman, director of the Regina City Jamia Masjid mosque in downtown Regina, poses for a photo outside of the centre on July 17. (Randi LaRocque/CBC)
The email containing the Islamophic message — including who sent it — is redacted in the emails disclosed by the city, but it is partially quoted by Flores in a later email.
The message says the adhan directs adherents to spread the religion in “non-Muslim lands” through “public assertion” and “demographic presence,” according to Flores’ quotation.
Zine said the message references the great replacement conspiracy theory and the civilizational jihad conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that Muslims immigrants are attempting to establish social, cultural and political strongholds in nations that they are “infiltrating.”
The tying of two different conspiracy theories together in one message paints a picture of a grand Islamophobic plan, he said.
“The idea is that Muslims are a Trojan horse that will unleash these invaders who will infiltrate Western societies. They will install themselves politically as a fifth column and then start installing Sharia law,” Zine said.
Asfari said Islamophobic conspiracy theories can be precursor to violence, saying it “does tend to plant seeds in more nefarious circles where the propensity for violence is greater.”
Zine and Asfari point to the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting and the 2021 London truck attack as examples of rhetoric becoming action in Canada.
Hundreds of Londoners gathered at the site where four members of the Afzaal family were tragically killed five years ago on June 6. The local Muslim community held a vigil at the intersection of South Carriage and Hyde Park Roads, then walked to Oakridge Secondary School. The event honoured the Muslim family known as Our London Family, and also aimed to raise awareness about combating hate and Islamophobia.
Asfari and Zine said it’s particularly concerning that a municipal politician — rather than a random person online — is sharing the conspiracy theory.
Zine said municipal leaders and politicians are looked to as trusted sources of information. When they share conspiracy theories that are otherwise circulating in white nationalist echo chambers, it helps to legitimize beliefs that are otherwise clearly false and harmful.
“It does give average people more licence to share those stories. And maybe they believe that those are bona fide,” Zine said.
A person within an institution, or an institution itself, sharing a conspiracy theory can help give it more weight, Asfari said.
“When we talk about institutionalized Islamophobia, this is precisely the kind of thing that we’re talking about,” Asfari said.
Asfari commended other councillors for pushing back against the rhetoric in the email.
In one example, Flores directly confronts Rashovich for sharing it.
“…Differentiate between a noise bylaw concern and someone who is using this opportunity to spread misinformation and hate,” Flores wrote.
