A Pickering politician was blasted once again for her alleged “bullying” and “defamation” of city employees.
Councillor Lisa Robinson has been accused of “ongoing, disruptive and harassing behaviour” towards staffers, resulting in the City of Pickering deciding that the staff will not attend two upcoming meetings.
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Marisa Carpino issued a joint statement on Wednesday condemning Robinson’s actions.
“This was a difficult, but necessary decision to protect our staff from continued mistreatment and uphold our duty as an employer to maintain a harassment-free workplace, as mandated by the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act,” they stated, noting the Executive Committee and Planning and Development Committee meetings on March 3 and the city council meeting would be skipped by staff.
“Equally as important, we are sending a strong message to Councillor Robinson that all employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
They pointed out Robinson’s “ongoing misrepresentation of facts and baseless allegations of corruption” and how she repeatedly violated the council’s code of conduct.
“Rather than taking accountability, her behaviour has only escalated, marked by persistent bullying, malicious public attacks, and the defamation of our valued employees,” they added.
This comes after Robinson slammed city officials after a meeting earlier this month that was open to all residents was exposed to racial slurs, swastikas and pornography, which is being investigated by Durham Regional Police.
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Robinson, who has been at odds with Ashe and other council members over her contentious stances, pointed out the hypocrisy in allowing the allegedly disturbing meeting to continue, given what was displayed on-screen, while denouncing her after her appearance on the podcast of convicted hate peddler Kevin J. Johnston, who has often railed about council.
The mayor and CAO concluded their statement saying, “We hope this approach will protect staff from further abuse while also preventing them from being exploited in councillor Robinson’s deliberately inflammatory videos, which distort facts and present information out of context to incite outrage and boost her online engagement at their expense.”
The Toronto Sun reached out to Robinson for further comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
At Monday’s council meeting, she maintained earlier complaints that the decision to conduct their meetings virtually to “protect the safety, security and well-being of council, staff, and residents” is nothing more than an “all-out attack” on her ability to do her job for her constituents.
“They want to suppress the truth, manipulate the narrative and control the voices that challenge their power,” Robinson said, and accused Carpino of her efforts to “suppress the truth.”
Robinson said the CAO threatened to stop her from using her office or city property for her videos, “if I don’t remain silent about the corruption and collusion that is happening at the City of Pickering.”
The decision to go virtual was more about the actions of Robinson’s supporters than the councillor herself, Ashe pointed out, referring to how her followers have regularly left a series of threats, texts, voicemails and emails for council and staff, voicing their general displeasure over their perceived unfair treatment of Robinson.
“It wasn’t one incident, but a culmination of attacks and harassing behaviours towards staff including our Chief Administrative Officer, Fire Chief, Director of Economic Development, and Division Head of Information Technology to name a few,” a spokesperson with the CAO’s office said in a statement to the Toronto Sun.
“This has been going on for over a year, and the Mayor and CAO made this decision to ultimately protect staff as the City does have a duty as an employer to maintain a respectful and harassment-free work environment.”