There is growing grumbling and dissatisfaction with the dynamics of the current City of Pickering Council.
[Comments and counterpoints can be written at the bottom of the post.]
From the statements of certain Councillors to some of the Mayor’s actions and words, there is a growing concern with the current City of Pickering Council.
Councillor Lisa Robinson may have freed the genie from the bottle with her flag-waving and marginalized group endeavours from a year or so ago. Robinson’s actions and statements, arguably justified, seem to be a prod for more equitable recognition of outsider groups, from Blacks to LGBTQ+. Though some may question Robinson’s stand, (grand standing?) they should pay attention to her underlying messages. Robinson is doing more than poking fingers into political and civic leaders’ chests. She is questioning the processes and procedures used by political institutions. Her finger prodding seems to have touched the sensitivities of more than one leader, though Mayor Ashe comes to the fore in this regard.
First, it is crucial to underline that Councillor Robinson needs to give more consideration to the questions she raises. Sometimes, her questions spark emotional and social turmoil needlessly. Sometimes, they touch areas that need questioning. No one opposes her right to free speech, but free speech must be regulated and sometimes even limited. You may have the right to say “Fire” in a crowded theatre, but no one would agree you should have the freedom to do so. You may have the right to say the word “nigger,’ but no one would agree you should.
However, Councillor Robinson seems to act a little too impetuously to the detriment of her surroundings, Councillors and citizenry. She may have some valid points in some areas that she questions, but should the questions be raised at all? Perhaps she might benefit from some emotional sensitivity and social awareness training sessions to raise her consciousness about the impact her words and actions may have on the community.
Be all that as it may, Robinson may have burst the damn of political intransigence and continuation of old tropes. Perhaps the best-before date of the “old boys’ club” pontifications is long past and should be modified or, better yet, trashed. She may have been voted to the table along with other females, but her permission to speak may be somewhat in question as evidenced by some recent words and actions of Mayor Ashe.
At a recent Council meeting, when a delegate got somewhat carried away with her statement and the attending audience became somewhat rowdy in support, Mayor Ashe responded with some name-calling, “nutcase,” followed by cutting off her mike.
Again, in a recent Council meeting, which was open to the public, Ashe was overheard saying things like, “This should be fun,” and that he would keep a certain councillor on a “short leash.”
As much as some people may see these kinds of remarks as arguably trivial, others see them as systemic issues, problems that may be indicative of misogynistic undertones. Perhaps the Mayor and Council members need to consider some anger and social awareness training also. Many of us would benefit from joining those sessions.
On another note, when exploring how our public officials seem a little lagging in fulfilling their responsibilities, the Integrity Commissioner is supposed to provide public annual reports. When criticized for lagging in this responsibility, he lamented about an overload of work as he was Integrity Commissioner for Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, and all of Durham. This kind of begs the question: Is such a lamentation appropriate for a civil servant at such a level?
The point of this whole missive is that we all need to examine our behaviour more closely. The Internet and Social Media’s anonymity and immediacy have made it too easy to criticize others in ways that Granny would never have permitted. We need Granny to come back and remind us about respect, proper decorum, and sensitivity.
