This Is Not Discipline It’s Political Punishment

This Is Not Discipline It’s Political Punishment By Councillor Lisa Robinson On Monday, Pickering Council will vote - again - to take away my income. If they approve the Integrity Commissioner’s recommendation, I will have officially worked an entire year without pay. A single mother, elected by the people to represent them, will be punished for doing just that - representing the people. Let’s be absolutely clear: I submitted a full rebuttal to the Integrity Commissioner’s Preliminary Findings on June 6, 2025 - two separate emails outlining my response in detail. That submission addressed every allegation with facts and evidence. But the final report - the one being used to justify this punishment - falsely claims that I didn’t respond at all. That is a lie. And when I asked that the item be removed from the agenda so this glaring error could be corrected, they refused. Not only is this a blatant violation of procedural fairness, it exposes the political agenda at play. While the full contents of my response may not have been reviewed, Council, the Clerk, the Mayor, and the Solicitor are fully aware that I responded - and they’re choosing to move forward anyway. This isn’t about conduct. It’s about control. Let’s talk about the source of these complaints. Aside from the first two sanctions - one brought by Councillor’s Brenner, Cook, and Nagy, and the second, which I strongly suspect also involved a member of Council - every single complaint since then has come directly from the CAO or the Mayor, the two highest-ranking powerholders in the corporation. In fact, there are additional complaints from the CAO that were submitted even before she submitted this current one, but the Integrity Commissioner is deliberately holding them back - waiting to bring them forward after Monday’s vote, so they can hit me with yet another 90-day suspension. That’s not accountability. That’s strategic punishment - carefully staggered to keep me under continuous attack and financially crippled. And what kicked it all off? A simple, honest statement I made months ago: “If I were Mayor, I would remove the CAO, the City Solicitor, and several Directors - because corruption starts at the top. I’d tear down city hall, rebuild it from the ground up, and give it back to the people.” That’s the truth - and it shook them. Because if I win the mayoral seat in October 2026, the CAO could lose her $250,000-a-year job. That’s over $4,500 a week. So ask yourself: are these complaints really about Code violations - or are they about protecting power, position, and paycheques? And let’s not pretend this is a fair process. The report actually says it’s “unfortunate” that Council can’t bar me from attending meetings, as if my very presence on the floor is something they’d eliminate if they had the legal authority. They use words like “sentencing” and “deterrence,” as though this were a criminal courtroom and I were some repeat offender, not a duly elected official fulfilling her mandate, by being the voice of the people who voted for me, and even those who didn’t. Even the Mayor himself has said, on the record, “She hasn’t learned her lesson” - like I’m a disobedient child who needs to be punished into submission. That tells you everything you need to know about the mindset behind these votes. They don’t want accountability. They want obedience. Let me be clear: Council does not have to accept the recommendation of the Integrity Commissioner. The Municipal Act allows for alternatives: training, education, even community service. But they’ve never once considered a single other option. It’s always straight to the most extreme measure: take her pay. Why? Because that’s what hurts most. And if Council votes in favour of this - knowing the report is flawed, knowing my response exists, knowing the bias behind these complaints - then every councillor who votes yes is complicit. It will say everything about their character, their cowardice, and their willingness to follow orders instead of doing what’s right. This should concern every person in Pickering. If this council can financially destroy an elected official simply for telling the truth, what will they do to you when you speak up? This is not democracy. This is dictatorship by majority vote. This is not discipline. This is targeted political punishment. I was elected to stand for the people. And no matter how many times they try to crush me, I will not back down. Councillor Lisa Robinson “The People’s Councillor” “Strength Does Not Lie In The Absence Of Fear, But In The Courage To Face It Head On And Rise Above It” - 2023