Impressions from the Pickering Council Meeting, Jan 27, 2025
For months now, I have written that the Pickering Council Meetings are inefficient and ineffective because of the ongoing conflict with Councillor Robinson. This is an EDITORIAL COMMENTARY reflecting my views and opinions about Council meetings. None of the following material comes from anyone on the Pickering Council, active or suspended.
First, let’s deal briefly with Robinson before writing impressions about Pickering’s most recent council meeting.
Robinson
Councillor Robinson is out of whack. Her myopic view sees only what she wants to see, her way only. She disregards all other viewpoints justifying and rationalizing by playing the Charter of Rights violations card. She is deaf to anyone who counters her statements. She is blind to all presentations that oppose her view. There is no way to discuss anything with a person with that kind of mentality, their position, “I am right. Everyone else is wrong. FULL STOP.”
Impressions of the meeting
Like all meetings, the council meeting has a process which they follow: delegates have the floor for the statement for which they were approved as a delegation. Saying anything new, adding to the statement is a violation of the rules and the meeting chair, Mayor Ashe, rightfully mutes their mic. If they insist on that path, they are removed as a speaking delegation. The procedure is valid and correct.
Photography and crowd applause
Persons using digital devices to record images were questioned if they had received approval to do so. Those without such approval were forbidden from video recording, if the violation continued, they were escorted out of the chambers by security. Valid and correct procedure.
Later on in the meeting, the audience would applaud. Ashe reminded the applauders that such action was not permitted in council meetings and violators would subject to ejection. Valid and correct procedure.
Carpino honoured again
Marisa Carpino’s career with the City of Pickering has spanned nearly three decades. She has risen through the professional ranks to the pinnacle of her career, the Chief Administrative Officer of Pickering since 2021.
Mayor Ashe and the Council honoured Carpino with a reiteration about her receiving the awarded the inaugural Municipal World CAO. Her family shared in the limelight shining on Carpino.
There was a dark cloud darkening the celebration. Councillor Robinson cast some aspirations on Carpino record implying it may have been tainted by some corruption. According to Robinson, Carpino is part of the ‘corruption at the top.’
Delegations
Delegation #1 – the representative of the Office of Integrity
The first delegation representing the Integrity Office spoke about the results of the investigation and the recommendations. In summary, he pointed out that investigations confirmed that Councillor’s Robinson’s behaviour as municipal rep were unacceptable and that she should be reprimanded and docked salary accordingly.
Numerous times, the Ashe-Robinson conflict deflected the meeting from council procedure to ongoing skirmishes between Ashe and Robinson regarding adherence to rules of order and discussion vs possible violations of the Charter of Rights.
For over an hour, the delegate tried to complete his statement, interrupted frequently by Robinson’s calls to ‘point of privilege.’
There is no denying or opposing Robinson’s right to be heard. However, she must abide by the rules of order and proper discussion. She must recognize that though the chair of the meeting, Mayor Ashe, may seem to have dictatorial authority, he is not acting in that way. He is trying to conduct a meeting according to what are accepted procedures for such official meetings. Robinson gave the impression that following rules of order pre-empted her freedom of speech rights.
Personal impressions
The meeting bogged down, making no productive, constructive headway for more than an hour. The inefficiency and quagmire came from the Ashe-Robinson conflict. Robinson’s right to free speech is acknowledged, but not when it violates the rules of proper decorum for such meetings. Ashe was fully right and correct in repeatedly admonishing Robinson for rule violation, ultimately, shutting off her mic.
The biggest problem with Robinson is that she claims things without supportive evidence. It is painting the members of the Council, City staff and others with a brush of claim without substance. One cannot accuse someone of anything without corroborating evidence, which is exactly what Robinson does repeatedly. I cannot label someone a racist if they do not display evidence of racist behaviour. But that is exactly what Robinson does. She accuses the top of city staff, city officials or city councillors as being corrupt without offering one iota of evidence to corroborate her claim.
The other problem displayed by Robinson in the meeting last night, and which she is guilty of doing repeatedly is that she jumps on to the “dot of the i without consider the whole letter.” She then insists on dealing with the dot and if you do not turn your attention to the dot but continue dealing with the entire letter, i, she jumps on you for disregarding her point. Should you correct her about where the focus should be, she states that her rights to free speech, her rights under the Charter of Rights are being violated. Again, Robinson is focussing on what she sees as needing focus regardless of what others may see as the topic in question. In Robinson’s view, if it isn’t her topic, it is irrelevant, and she throws in the red herring of freedoms and Rights to distract others from where she wants them to be.
Bogging down the work
Robinson’s continual focus on her topics of concentration is much like a spoiled child yelling and throwing a temper tantrum because others are not abiding by the child’s attention and wishes. Robinson seems angry and distraught because others do not fall in line with her way of thinking.
Robinson’s behaviour is wrong, but it is elevated or disintegrates to other levels when she insists her statements receive the attention she wishes. Her repeated insistence on this goal means Council work is constantly being derailed as it must deal with her derailings. The Council cannot complete its work effectively and efficiently as its attention is being constantly deflected.
Chairman Ashe is to be commended for learning better emotions and self-control from his earlier meetings where his anger was triggered too easily. He has modified his manner in dealing with Robinson. He now listens more and reacts specifically to what she is saying and how it violates the rules of meeting order. He is calm, consistent and insistent in dealing with her recalcitrant behaviour.
The pause for a break
The pause for a break, though stated as only for five minutes, lasted closer to half an hour. When the meeting resumed it was to deal with more housekeeping procedures. I left.
The bottom line
Robinson is guilty of being self-centred and seeing herself as the epitome of importance, if not in council meetings, then in the conflict therein. Sadly, she does not do honest and sincere self-introspection to see, at the very least, that if the majority disagrees with you, it is a call for self-examination, not a call for reinforcing the bulwarks. This kind of behaviour harms everyone concerned, but most importantly, it results in the breakdown of what municipal councils are supposed to do. This municipal council is inefficient and working ineffectively because of the distraction caused by this councillor’s egotistical and self-centred mode of work.
