'Irresponsible, unethical, and dangerous': Pickering councillor slammed over appearance on 'far-right' podcast

Pickering Coun. Lisa Robinson is seen in a screen grab from a video posted to YouTube on Aug. 7.

Pickering’s mayor along with five of its six city councillors have released a statement denouncing one of their colleagues for appearing on a “far-right” podcast where the host made a number of threatening and derogatory remarks about them.

Mayor Kevin Ashe and councillors Maurice Brenner, Linda Cook, David Pickles, Mara Nagy, and Shaheen Butt released the statement on Wednesday in response to a July 31 appearance that Coun. Lisa Robinson made on ‘Live with Kevin J. Johnston,’ which streams on Rumble.

The mayor and councillors said that during the broadcast Johnston “published the names, pictures, and personal phone numbers of council members,” labelling them as "pedophiles, Nazis and fascists.”

They also said that Johnson suggested that the members of council "deserve a baseball bat to the face” and that a vicious dog “should be let loose at City Council meetings to attack and maim us.”

Ashe and the councillors did not take issue with any comments that Robinson made herself. But they said that her participation in the show is an “implied endorsement” of the views expressed by the host.

“This inflammatory, defamatory, and violent rhetoric is not only reprehensible, but also poses a direct threat to our safety and the safety of our families,” the statement notes.

“We are concerned that Councillor Robinson’s appearance on this extremist’s show will only incite more violent attitudes and behaviours. In addition to our personal safety and well-being, we are also concerned about our families, city staff, and various members of our community who have been undeservedly and irresponsibly called out in this video.”

In September 2023, Robinson’s wages were suspended for 30 days for alleged bullying in her community after identifying three citizens in a Facebook post where she announced that her annual Halloween event for charity was being cancelled.

The following month, she was handed a 60-day wage suspension due to what the Integrity Commissioner called “homophobic and transphobic behaviour” in relation to her alleged conduct at a May 2023 Durham District School Board meeting.

In their statement, Ashe and the councillors say that Robinson’s appearance on the podcast was “irresponsible, unethical, and dangerous” and amounts to a “clear violation” of the code of conduct for council members.

They also allege that Robinson has been “actively soliciting donations and funding from far-right sources,” which they are calling a “flaw in the Municipal Act.” They say that they plan to ask Queen’s Park for “stricter sanctions beyond suspension of pay” for those who contravene the act.

“Throughout the broadcast, the host mocked the physical appearance of members of council, made numerous defamatory statements towards multiple individuals, and used increasingly violent language,” the statement notes.

“Instead of refuting or condemning these reprehensible comments, Councillor Robinson often smiled, chuckled, or nodded her head in agreement throughout. Her willingness to align herself with such an individual and imply her support of his dangerous views is very alarming.”

In their statement, the councillors accuse Robinson of “exploiting extreme views in a blatant effort to boost her public profile.”

But Robinson is refuting those claims.

In a statement provided to CP24, she said that she does not “condone anything that Mr. Johnston said in a hateful manner or that advocates violence against any of my fellow councillors.”

“I want to make it perfectly clear that I reject and disassociate myself from any such rhetoric,” she said.

Robinson then went on to suggest she is, in fact, the recipient of attacks from the Mayor and Pickering City Council for having spoken against and criticized their agenda.

“Their selective outrage and double standards only reveal their hypocrisy. They can’t have it both ways – criticizing Mr. Johnston comments while tacitly endorsing or ignoring the hateful attacks against me,” the councillor said.

“The council’s attempts to deflect Mr. Johnston’s actions on me, is laughable, especially considering their own history of name-calling and vicious attacks on anyone who opposes their narrative.”