HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH IT

God, Family, Country And the Courage to Speak: A Tribute to Charlie Kirk By Councillor Lisa Robinson On Monday, September 29th, at one o’clock in the afternoon, while most people were at work, Pickering Council held a Special Meeting where they voted to approve the Seaton Recreation Complex and Library — the most expensive project in our city’s history. In just a little over three and a half hours, Council committed taxpayers to a $266 million build that will potentially drive your property taxes up nearly twelve percent and blow our debt wide open. To put it into perspective, for every single minute during that meeting, Council was committing 1.4 million dollars of your money. Right now, Pickering carries about 5 million dollars in debt. By this January, that number will already rise to 57 million dollars in debt with other projects now in the pipeline. And by 2027, with the Seaton project added in, our debt will skyrocket to 331 million dollars. That’s an increase of over 570 per cent coming to you the taxpayer in less than 458 days. Think about that. That’s like a family jumping from a five-thousand-dollar credit card balance to over three hundred and thirty thousand — and being locked into paying it off for the next twenty years. Even our own Treasurer called this one of the most difficult financial decisions the city has ever faced. He recommended caution. He recommended deferral. And what did Council do? They ignored him. I tried to move a motion to defer this decision until at least 40 percent of Pickering’s population had the chance to comment. I suggested a mail-out survey to every home that would clearly state the eleven-point-seven-one percent tax increase if the project was approved. Not one councillor would second my motion. The Mayor shut it down immediately, saying, “I don’t think that’s the way to do fiscal responsibility. That would be a huge undertaking.” But since when is mailing residents the truth a huge undertaking, while spending two hundred and sixty-six million dollars without their informed consent is considered fiscal responsibility? Make it make sense. Meanwhile, staff and the Mayor insisted that just over 3,000 adults responding was an “exceptionally high” number. They even went so far as to boast about community engagement, claiming they had logged 82 hours in the field holding twenty pop-up events, three in-person sessions, and circulated surveys through schools where even children were counted as respondents. Yet not once in any of this engagement did they mention that approving this project would mean a 12 percent property tax increase. That’s not consultation. That’s manipulation. And the irony? Just months ago, I was punished with three months’ pay taken away for saying surveys can be skewed. This one proves my point exactly. If a survey doesn’t disclose the real cost or consequences of what people are “agreeing” to, then it’s not an honest survey. When I pressed on the financial realities, the Mayor didn’t respond with facts. Instead, he tried to smear me personally — falsely claiming once again that I wanted a 10 percent tax hike for snow removal. Let’s clear that up right now, once and for all: that was their inflated consultant’s estimate, not mine. My proposal never involved a tax hike at all. And while the Mayor told residents in his Council Meeting recap that taxes were going up because of a $2.3-million-dollar fire truck, he left out the $266-million-dollar decision made that very same afternoon just hours before. Ask yourself: why? Here’s the reality: the Treasurer confirmed this project alone adds approximately $255 dollars a year to the average homeowner’s bill. Every year. For the next twenty years. And to make room for it, other critical needs — like the Seaton Fire Station and the Northern Operations Centre — were shoved onto the “parked projects list,” indefinitely delayed. And not to mention this nearly 12 per cent tax hike is only for this single project aloan. It doesn’t include the other tax increases the city will need for roads, sewers, infrastructure, and everything else we do. It doesn’t include the school board increases. It doesn’t include the Region’s increases. And if I’m not mistaken, it doesn’t even include the additional 2.7 percent Council already approved under the so-called climate adaptation plan if I'm not mistaken. Add it all together, and you’re looking at tax bills that will climb far higher than what I’m even admitting to you today. Look around the region. Whitby’s new complex came in at 160 million. Clarington’s is projected at 180 million. Pickering’s? 266 million — and staff already admitted it could climb to over 300 million by the time it’s tendered in 2027. And this was all decided in one Monday afternoon, in a little over three hours, with a six-to-one vote. I was the only councillor who voted no. Not because I oppose recreation, libraries, or community spaces, which I am sure will be the rumour spread by the Mayor or Council, but because you deserved the truth. You deserved real consultation. You deserved to know that your taxes will rise 12 per cent, that your debt will explode from 5 million today to 57 million in January and to 331 million dollars in less than 458 days, that other essential projects will now be shelved, and that only 3 percent of adults were consulted — without ever being told the real cost. This isn’t about building community. It’s about building a political legacy — on your back. Rob Ford reminded us all that respecting taxpayers isn't just words — it's action. Yet, when decisions are made without transparency, that respect is lost. As your servants, we must do better. Councillor Lisa Robinson "Strength Does Not Lie In The Absence Of Fear, But In The Courage To Face It Head-On And Rise Above It"