CITIZENS OF PICKERING BEWARE, ONCE AGAIN YOUR MAYOR USES HIS POWER TO SILENCE YOU, HIS CONSTITUENTS!

At the 7:00 pm March 25th., 2024 Pickering City Council Meeting things started with the Mayor making the usual opening remarks, So good so far ... But then things changed ……The Mayor quickly stated “there is a motion to amend the agenda to bring 12..2 and 14.5 up first” a citizen in the gallery called out “excuse me sir”, the Mayor was quick to shut him down saying “that’s not how it works here, if you’re on the delegation you’ll get a chance to speak”, and called for the vote. Hmmm …. The Mayor must be hearing voices, he had been the only one speaking since he opened the meeting, one of the councilors would have had to speak up to make the motion he Mayor spoke of, but, that didn’t happen. Note the 5 councilors, Brenner, Butt, Cook, Nagy and Pickles never batted an eye when the Mayor said there was a motion, it’s almost as if they knew about this before the meeting. Hmmm … I wonder don’t you? The vote to bring the items to the top of the meeting passed 6 - 1. During the debate that followed Councillor Robinson put forward a question to the Mayor, “if we pass 12.2 does that mean the citizens who showed up to speak at the Open Question Period would not be able to speak? The Mayor carefully dodged the question saying “he didn’t see any requests to speak to the agenda that if they did they would be allowed”. Councillor Robinson quickly pointed out it was refer-ring to the Open Question Period and the Mayor had to admit that Councillor Robinson was cor- rect, the citizens that showed up to speak in the Open Question Period would not be allowed to speak. Councillor Robinson commented that that didn’t seem very democratic. The Mayor in a huff was quick to answer “No, Council makes the rules”, resulting in a bit of a low moaning from the citizens to which the Mayor called out “Order folks, I will not stand for people speaking out of place” .… “and want a respectful and safe space” …. ”Please refrain from speaking” … “SIR, we do not allow hand raising if you want to speak make a delegation”. Councillor Robinson brought up more important questions but failed to get proper answers. The vote to pass 12.2 and 14.5 passed 6 - 1. Note in the agendas,12.2 and 14.5 referred to reports & ref #’s of bylaws etc. . The average citizen had no way of knowing it was regarding the “Open Question Period”. It truly does seem that the Mayor, Brenner, Butt, Cook, Nagy and Pickles do not want the people they are suppose to represent, to have any say or input unless, it is something they are promoting. Hmmm … could it be that the Mayor and the other 5 councilors, Brenner, Butt, Cook, Nagy & Pickles wanted to silence their constituents? As the meeting continued The Mayor showed his contempt by the disrespectful way he introduced the delegates that defended Councillor Robinson, which he did again in his posted report following the meeting, saying that most delegates were not from Pickering, however he failed to mention that most of the delegates that he backed in the February Council Meeting were also from outside of Pickering. Hmmm …. It seems the Mayor’s definition of respect is a one way street. He is constantly yelling at Councillor Robinson when he doesn’t have the answers, yelling at the citizens when they object to his quick by passes of rules etc and he, the Mayor, even went as far as having a city approved delegate, a senior woman, who refused to be silenced when speaking over her allotted time, removed, arrested and charged with trespassing. It appears that this Mayor believes he is above all others and not to be questioned. His version of truth is embellishing the half to his benefit. An example is how he made it sound that the 8 or 9 delegates made it a long meeting that had to continue another day while failing to mention the number of other items, recommendations, motions, by-laws, new business etc on the agenda. Anyone can watch the videos of the council meetings, past and present. on youtube DON’T BE PART OF THE SILENT MAJORITY THAT WAKES UP ONLY TO FIND IT’S TOO LATE. STOP THE SILENCE ~ START THE CONVERSATION ~ SPEAK UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT OH CANADA, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE