{"id":10309,"date":"2025-01-05T01:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T06:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=10309"},"modified":"2025-01-05T01:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T06:38:17","slug":"outspoken-councillor-has-had-pay-docked-four-times-for-expressing-controversial-views-now-timid-pickering-council-will-meet-virtually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=10309","title":{"rendered":"Outspoken Councillor Has Had Pay Docked Four Times for Expressing Controversial Views; Now Timid Pickering Council Will Meet Virtually"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Councillor fires back at public ban at Pickering council, saying colleagues trying to \u2018suppress the truth\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

[Representative government is against under attack. In boards of education and city councils in many parts of Canada, if a representative is too outspoken or “right wing,” especially on LGBTQ privileges, other councillors vote to silence the offender by suspending them and docking their pay. It’s happened four times to Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson. The latest gambit by Pickering City Council is to hold their meetings online, not in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The threats to democracy are two-fold. Virtual meetings are remote and secretive. The taxpayers’ business should be public! Secondly, there is a sacred bond between the electorate and the person they elect. No one should limit the elected representative, in this case Councillor Lisa Robinson in the performance of her duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earlier, she was punished for introducing motions to ban the gay pride flag from city property, limiting drag queen library readings to persons over 18 (not innocent children), and eliminating gender neutral washrooms are City Hall. The democratic way would have been for Council to vote on these proposals and support or reject them, not sanction her and steal her pay for even daring to make the motion. Woke is a menace to representative government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Mayor’s pathetic bleating about safety is a copout. If there’s a real apprehension of violence, as opposed to spirited public participation, that’s what a police force is for.– Paul Fromm]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Glenn Hendry<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published January 2, 2025 at 8:45 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pickering Councillors Lisa Robinson and Maurice Brenner and Mayor Kevin Ashe in better days. Photo Glenn Hendry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embattled Pickering councillor Lisa Robinson said council\u2019s decision to go virtual for their meetings in 2025 to \u201cprotect the safety, security and well-being of council, staff, and residents\u201d is nothing more than an \u201call-out attack\u201d on her ability to do her job for her constituents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey want to suppress the truth, manipulate the narrative and control the voices that challenge their power,\u201d Robinson said on one of several rambling tirades on her regular YouTube video to her supporters, where she called out fellow councillor Maurice Brenner and Pickering CAO Marisa Carpino for their efforts to \u201csuppress the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinson claimed Brenner was \u201cactively working to silence me\u201d by trying to prevent her from using her office at City Hall to record her often hate-filled podcasts, claiming she learned this through a Freedom of Information Request on redacted emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that Councillor Brenner is actively working to undermine me,\u201d she said, adding that Brenner also tried to get her charged with a hate crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robinson also singled out Carpino in her attack, saying the CAO threatened to stop her from using her office or city property for her videos, \u201cif I don\u2019t remain silent about the corruption and collusion that is happening at the City of Pickering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinson, who didn\u2019t elaborate on the alleged corruption, called it a \u201cblatant abuse of authority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Pickering CAO\u2019s attempt to extort me an elected official, is an insult to democracy and in my opinion, criminal,\u201d she said in a follow-up video released New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Kevin Ashe released a video Monday afternoon explaining the decision to bar the public from attending future meetings, saying the city needs to take measures to \u201cenhance the personal safety for all\u201d after two years of violence, threats and intimidation from Robinson\u2019s alt-right supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past two years the City of Pickering has witnessed a growing infiltration of alt-right individuals, ideologies and influences that has created an atmosphere of uncertainty over our council, our staff, our residents and indeed the broader community,\u201d he said at the outset of the video, which provided context for the decision and also came with a warning label of \u201cthreats and extreme violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The video provided a playback of Robinson\u2019s first term in office, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n