Mayor and CAO’s Joint Statement on Staff Attendance at City Meetings

Pickering, ON, February 26, 2025 – Due to Councillor Lisa Robinson’s ongoing, disruptive, and harassing behaviour towards City staff, we have made the mutual decision that staff will not attend the Executive Committee and Planning & Development Committee meetings on March 3, 2025, or the City Council meeting on March 24, 2025.

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.  Equally as important, we are sending a strong message to Councillor Robinson that all employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Over the past year, and as recently as the February 24, 2025 Council Meeting, Councillor Robinson has repeatedly violated the Council Code of Conduct, with multiple findings directly related to her ongoing misrepresentation of facts and baseless allegations of corruption. Rather than taking accountability, her behaviour has only escalated, marked by persistent bullying, malicious public attacks, and the defamation of our valued employees.

Before staff attendance at Committee and Council meetings resumes, consideration will be given to the structure of meeting chairs for both Standing Committees and Council, to ensure that decorum is maintained and the rules of procedure are enforced. In the meantime, Council and Committee Members may continue to contact the appropriate staff in advance of the meetings to address any questions regarding reports on the meeting agenda.

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.