[The Robinson press release is neither condoned nor supports the release. It is being posted as a public service to inform the Pickering/Durham residents.
However, accusations without evidence or substantive information may be libelous. It definitely gives her press release into questionable validity.]
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Mayor’s Email Confirms Pickering Councillor Was Deliberately Excluded From Official City Business
Councillor says latest exclusion is part of a four-year pattern of isolation, retaliation, and interference with her ability to represent residents.
PICKERING, ON – July 12, 2026 – Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson says a written response from Mayor Kevin Ashe confirms she was deliberately excluded from participating in official City business–not because of a Council decision, not because of a written City policy, and not because she was ineligible–but because, according to the Mayor, other councillors would not attend if she did.
This weekend, while the Mayor, City staff, and several members of Council were away outside of Canada representing the City of Pickering on an official delegation, Councillor Robinson was not invited to participate.
When her office asked why, Mayor Kevin Ashe responded in writing:
“I can safely say that no other Councillor would attend if you attended. As such, no invitation was extended.”
Robinson says those words are significant because they confirm that her exclusion was intentional.
“I wasn’t told there wasn’t enough room. I wasn’t told there was a policy preventing me from attending, because there isn’t one. I wasn’t told Council had voted to exclude me, because they didn’t. I was deliberately excluded from official City business.”
Robinson says this is not about one trip.
She says it is the latest example in what she believes has become a four-year pattern of progressively restricting her ability to perform the duties she was elected to carry out on behalf of the residents of Pickering. “This didn’t happen overnight. It has happened step by step.”
According to Robinson, that pattern has included but not limited to:
- removal from committee appointments;
- Stripped of the ability to chair, executive and planning and development committee meeting
- repeated suspensions of her Council pay;
- all sanctions have come from complaints made by the Mayor and/or the CAO during 2024, 2025 and 2026;
- being sanctioned more than once for the same complaint
- additional financial punishment for discussing previous sanctions;
- being denied access to links for In-Camera Council meetings on more than one occasion;
- restrictions on communicating directly with City staff;
- requirements that the CAO be copied on all correspondence with City directors;
- restrictions affecting her access and security arrangements at City Hall;
- exclusion from meetings and delegations with Members of Provincial Parliament during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference;
- exclusion from other opportunities routinely available to fellow councillors;
- being cropped out of photographs from some public events by fellow members of Council; and now,
- deliberate exclusion from official out-of-country city delegations.
Robinson says she believes the pattern began after she started publicly speaking out about allegations concerning lies, corruption, extortion, manipulation of records, political interference, abuse of power, and other serious misconduct occurring at City Hall. “Rather than independently investigating many of the issues I raised, they were repeatedly characterized as ‘unfounded.’
My question has always been the same: How can allegations be declared unfounded if they have never been independently investigated?”
Robinson says that instead of investigating the concerns she raised, she believes the focus shifted to discrediting her.
“I believe the response has been to isolate me, sanction me, restrict my participation, and progressively interfere with my ability to perform the job the residents of Pickering elected me to do.”
She notes that she sent cease-and-desist correspondence regarding the conduct of the CAO and the Integrity Commissioner before allegations were later made that she was intimidating or harassing City personnel. “I raised concerns first. Later, when I continued asking questions, I became the alleged problem.”
Robinson also points to a January 6, 2025, email circulated by Mayor Ashe proposing changes to the Council Compensation and Communications Policy. Among the proposed amendments were changes that would have removed certain allowances from councillors under a pay suspension, including”
- removal of car allowance,
- communication allowance including home security systems,
- eligibility to attend conferences, workshops, and business development trips.
Councillor Robinson has been the only council member in the history of Pickering to have “pay sanctions.” The proposed policy was never approved after Robinson raised concerns that they unfairly targeted her. Yet here we are – she has ultimately been excluded from official delegations and trips anyway.
Robinson also questions the handling of her recent inquiry.
She asked her Executive Assistant to contact a City staff member requesting information about councillors’ participation in delegation trips. Robinson says she did not direct that the Mayor be copied on the correspondence. Nevertheless, the Mayor received the email and personally responded.
“My office sent a straightforward administrative inquiry to a staff member. The Mayor responded instead. Combined with the communication restrictions already placed on my office, this raises questions about how my correspondence is being handled.”
Robinson says she also believes there is an increasing lack of transparency surrounding official City business.
“When I ask basic questions, such as who is travelling on behalf of the City, who was invited, or why an elected councillor was excluded, I encounter unnecessary secrecy. These are official municipal activities funded by the public. Residents deserve openness and accountability.”
Robinson says the City frequently refers to the judicial review decisions relating to sanctions imposed against her.
She says those proceedings did not resolve the broader factual disputes she continues to raise.
“The judicial review proceedings addressed the legality of Council’s decisions under the Municipal Act. They did not determine whether the allegations in the Integrity Commissioner reports were factually accurate or whether the sanctions were justified on their merits. I continue to maintain that many of those allegations were false and that I have evidence supporting that position.”
Robinson also points to procedural changes during her term that, in her view, reduced meaningful scrutiny of Integrity Commissioner reports.
She says Council no longer allows the same level of questioning of those reports before voting on sanctions, despite those reports forming the basis for repeated disciplinary decisions against elected officials. “Residents deserve confidence that serious allegations are thoroughly examined before sanctions are imposed. In my case, no witnesses I identified were interviewed, and my rebuttals have never been included for Council’s consideration, limiting Council’s ability to make a fully informed decision.”
Robinson says the cumulative effect of the last four years has been profound. “They have taken my pay for two years. They have removed me from committees. They have restricted my communications. They have limited my participation. They have excluded me from meetings and delegations. Now the Mayor has confirmed in writing that I was not invited because other councillors would not attend if I did.”
She says the issue extends beyond politics.
“Democracy does not require councillors to agree with one another. It requires us to respect the office each of us was elected to hold. Residents did not elect councillors to form cliques or decide which elected representatives are permitted to do their jobs. They elected us to debate issues, ask difficult questions, and represent the public.”
Robinson says the Mayor’s email should concern every resident, regardless of political views. “This isn’t about whether you agree with me. It’s about whether any elected representative should lose the ability to fully represent the people who elected them because they refuse to stay silent, ask difficult questions, or challenge those in positions of authority….When one councillor is deliberately excluded, the residents who elected that councillor are excluded as well.”
