Politics in Pickering: When Transparency Takes a Back Seat to Theatrics

Politics in Pickering: When Transparency Takes a Back Seat to Theatrics By Lisa Robinson Think politics is boring? Not in Pickering! Our meetings have become a kind of reality TV - maybe even worthy of Netflix - with plot twists, dramatic outbursts, and a lot of conspiracy accusations thrown in for good measure. At our executive meeting last Monday February 3, 2025, I opened with questions directed at our Director of IT, Dale Quaif, and took a moment to flash back to last years February 5th, 2024 executive meeting. Back then, we used tax payers dollars of nearly $180,000.00 paid to MNP Digital to assess Digital Readiness and assessment strategy. The consultants confidently reported to Council that The Corporation of The City of Pickering boasted an extensive privacy and cybersecurity plan to protect residents’ personal online data. Sounds great, right? Wrong—it turned out to be nothing more than a complete lie. Because immediately after the consultants made this claim, I pressed our IT Director Mr. Quaif on the specifics of what measures were in place to protect our residents’ online personal data, and he painfully admitted there was nothing. Yes, you read that correctly… Nothing! He did, however, offer the promise that cybersecurity would eventually become part of our digital transition journey. Fast forward to February 3 of this year ‘2025—almost exactly a full year later—I found myself asking the same pointed question: What, if anything, has changed? After an exercise in political dodging, the answer was as stark as it was simple: nothing. There has been no implementation of new software or security measures. Instead, we were met with vague references to policies and procedures, legislation, two-factor authentication, and a records retention policy—a list of buzzwords without any concrete action behind them. I suggested that it would be a colossal waste of money to continually spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on new software when our IT Director doesn’t even have a clear grasp of our current list of software inventory—or whether any new purchases would even be compatible with what we already have. That’s when the Mayor lost it. While the Mayor was yelling at me and verbally abusing me, another councillor could not control her laughter. He accused my line of questioning of being deeply disrespectful and highly inappropriate, taking offense at my use of the word “waste” and my comment that our “IT Director should know our list of software inventory.” According to him, my terminology was grossly offensive. He went on to further abuse and insult me, claiming that there isn’t a conspiracy theory around every corner. In a childlike tantrum, the Mayor even labeled me a conspiracy theorist—while ironically disrespecting the Chair, the very rules he continually accuses me of violating. Once again, we witnessed the classic “rules for thee, but not for me” behavior... Apparently, pointing out poor planning and fiscal mismanagement is offensive to the Mayor. And here's the kicker: the so-called “conspiracy” is clearly laid out in black and white on MNP Digital's strategy plan—a $179,670.00 bill paid with your property tax dollars. Some conspiracy!