Pickering city council moving meetings online due to threats, mayor says
CBC
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe has decided to move all city council meetings online this year, saying the measure is necessary due to ongoing security threats posed by supporters of one councillor.
Ashe announced the change in a nearly 13-minute video on the city's YouTube page on Dec. 30, 2024. The video highlights a number of incidents involving Coun. Lisa Robinson, before showing screenshots and airing audio of some graphic threats that Ashe says councillors have received as a result.
About 100,000 people live in Pickering — just east of Toronto — and residents who want to keep tabs on council will now have to rely on an online livestream. One community member told CBC Toronto they're worried the move will lead to less democratic engagement in the city, even though the city accepts virtual delegations.
Ashe told CBC Radio's Here & Now that he's not trying to silence Robinson by moving meetings online, but that the change is being made to protect councillors and city staff from some of her supporters.
"It's not something we took lightly," he said.
"The council chamber should be a place for cordial, respectful dialogue, exchange of ideas about public policy where people can be heard. And it's simply not a safe place right now."
Ashe said the video about Robinson's actions and resulting security concerns was made by a city employee. You can watch that video below:
Last September, Pickering's integrity commissioner gave Robinson a 90-day pay suspension — the most severe penalty under current rules — after finding she demonstrated a continued pattern of "unacceptable behaviour" that risked hurting marginalized members of society.
A month before that, Robinson appeared on a controversial podcast where the host labelled her colleagues pedophiles, Nazis, and fascists while posting their contact information. The show's host also suggested a violent dog be let loose on council and that "70s biker types with the big biceps … [and] knuckles that had scar-tissue" should remove the mayor and councillors by force.
Robinson posted a video of her own on YouTube, in which she called the city's video "laughable" and the decision to move meetings online "cowardly."
Robinson pushed back against the notion of council members feeling unsafe.
"They are the ones that are creating this fear when there is none," she said in her video. You can watch Robinson's response video below:
CBC Toronto reached out to Robinson on Thursday for further comment, but did not receive a response.
Abdullah Mir, a Pickering resident and activist, said he's frustrated the situation has taken centre stage at city hall.
When Hockey Canada announced who would wear the Maple Leaf for the men’s hockey team, not one player from Quebec was on the roster.
Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz is scheduled to testify under oath this coming week as the first hearings are held in the public inquiry into the procurement and construction of Winnipeg's police headquarters.
Thousands of people who attended what's touted as Canada's largest indoor farm show this year may have been exposed to measles, Manitoba public health officials warn.
Statistics Canada projects the share of Charlottetown's population under the age of 40 will drop by about 10 per cent by 2049 — a figure that has some advocates raising concerns.
In the days since he was last seen on Monday, Feb. 2, Burnaby RCMP have said little about the search for Masood Masjoody, but have described his disappearance as suspicious and turned over the investigation to the Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
MP Jamil Jivani headed home to his riding of Bowmanville—Oshawa North on Friday after several meetings in Washington, D.C.
Concrete toboggans built by engineering students from across the country will race down a London ski hill this weekend as the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race returns to the city.
The Government of the Northwest Territories has many goals when it comes to housing. One of its more ambitious ones is to build 300 new housing units by the end of its mandate.
Despite widespread approval from provinces and auto manufacturers, Prime Minister Mark Carney's auto plan might not accelerate the transition to electric vehicles as fast as he says.
A record-breaking snow drought in the western U.S. is raising concerns about water scarcity and wildfires next summer. A new Canadian study suggests the conditions could signal a longer-term trend that threatens water supplies for millions across the country.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
The London Fire Department is warning the public of the dangers of lithium ion batteries after a student's backpack caught fire at Northridge Public School.