Hi! Thank you for visiting! Please don’t just sign this petition! We are asking that you copy and paste all except this paragraph, add your name, city/town, and province to the end, and send it to Premier Doug Ford: premier@ontario.ca Minister Paul Calandra: Paul.calandra@pc.ola.org and Pickering MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy: peter.bethlenfalvyco@pc.ola.org This will be far more effective than just signing the petition. You can also write to them in your own words if you prefer. Thank you!

—copy below this line+paste to email—- 

Mr Premier, Minister Calandra, and Minister Bethlenfalvy,
I am writing to express my concern about the ongoing situation on Pickering Council, and the inadequacy of the Ontario Municipal Act to address these issues.

On September 25th, 2023, Pickering Ward 1 City Councillor Lisa Robinson received a 30-day suspension in pay, after the city’s integrity commissioner determined that one of her Facebook posts amounted to online bullying of Pickering residents who opposed a variance on her property:  https://www.durhamregion.com/news/council/pickering-coun-lisa-robinson-receives-pay-suspension-after-integrity-commissioner-finds-facebook-post-a-bullying/article_f3a4e3a8-b86f-5566-b7c0-bfe72c9e2659.html?_gl=1*rpkflt*_ga*MTEzNTkzOTkuMTcwMjkyODY0Mw..*_ga_MSS93B4T12*MTcwNzc1MDc4MC4yMzMuMS4xNzA3NzU5OTIyLjAuMC4w

On October 23rd, 2023, Councillor Robinson received a further 60-day pay suspension, after the integrity commissioner determined that she had “promoted attitudes which are homophobic and transphobic.”

These sanctions have done nothing to deter Councillor Robinson’s behaviour. In fact, she has used them to boost her profile, portraying herself as a victim in a number of interviews with Far Right personalities, and a live speaking engagement that also featured extremist European politicians Christine Anderson and Eva Vlaardingerbroek (Make It Your Business, Ottawa, Nov. 29, 2023). This July 11 Toronto Star article details some of the chaos Robinson’s supporters have caused at city council, including death threats made to members of Council, and two councillors being followed home.  https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/after-the-freedom-convoy-she-turned-her-focus-on-local-politics-what-followed-was-an/article_76184f4e-3954-11ef-962d-c3a11c7cf4c1.html
Most recently, Robinson appeared on a Rumble stream with Kevin J Johnston, a Canadian convicted of a hate crime, and facing millions of dollars in civil penalties stemming from extreme harassment, who now resides in Panama. On this stream, she participated approvingly in Johnson’s slanderous portrayal of all other members of Council as “pedophiles”, his derogatory comments on their physical appearance, and his calls for his audience to harass them, complete with emails and personal phone numbers. Details can be found in this CBC report: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QvB7cieqV-U Clearly the 30-day pay suspension for bullying taught her nothing, as she has now escalated significantly. Also in the Johnston interview, she admitted to receiving funding from supporters.

A statement by Pickering City Council on August 7th, 2024, https://www.pickering.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=12a0398f-4db9-4503-9f31-1426fce7ab5b expresses concern about that funding: “there is no accounting or disclosure of the monies she is receiving.” 
This statement raises serious concerns about the Municipal Act: “This situation highlights a fundamental flaw under the Municipal Act. A sitting member of municipal council should not be able to freely solicit and accept money without transparency or accountability. This lack of oversight could potentially invite influence peddling, bribery, and corruption. As Councillor Robinson continues to receive this funding without any disclosure or accountability, we believe the Government of Ontario should take immediate action to close this glaring loophole and amend the Municipal Act to allow for stricter sanctions beyond suspension of pay.” This is followed by a commitment to issue “a formal request to Premier Doug Ford and MPP Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.”
As an Ontario resident and taxpayer, I am contacting you, our Premier, our Minister of Municipal Affairs, and the MPP for Pickering-Uxbridge, to express my support for Pickering Council’s formal request. I ask that you do everything in your power to expedite changes to the Municipal Act, to strengthen its provisions for sanctioning elected officials where necessary, and to eliminate the loophole which allows sitting members of municipal council to receive funds without transparency or accountability.  The July 11 Toronto Star article states that a “provincial leader” for Action4Canada set up a fundraiser for Robinson following her pay suspension, so it is easy to see how the current system could lead special interest groups to have undue monetary influence over sitting Councillors. This isn’t an issue of a single councillor, in a single city. It is an issue of an inadequate Municipal Act that has allowed for this situation to arise and grow in severity, and would allow for similar situations to arise throughout the Province.  Please take swift, concrete action to ensure that does not happen.

Thank you