Embattled Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson has urgently appealed to all Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) for intervention and assistance over her pay being docked for the past 21 months.
“I am writing to you today as Councillor Lisa Robinson, Ward 1, City of Pickering, to urgently request your immediate help and intervention in a situation that has become intolerable,” she said yesterday in an open letter to all MPPs.
“For 21 months I have received zero pay as an elected public servant. This has been achieved through repeated sanctions under the Municipal Act, 2001. While the Act allows council to withhold a councillor’s pay for up to 90 days per finding of an “egregious” breach, I have never committed fraud, theft, criminal activity, or anything that could reasonably be considered egregious. These sanctions stem almost entirely from my exercise of Charter-protected freedom of expression — speaking out about corruption, wasteful spending, and loopholes on behalf of the residents who elected me,” Robinson said.
She said 99 per cent of these sanctions originate directly from Mayor Kevin Ashe and the CAO. “They file the complaints themselves and then vote on the sanctions that strip me of my pay — a clear conflict of interest and a blatant abuse of process. They have weaponized the integrity commissioner (the same individual previously removed from other municipalities for bias and overreach) to target me.”
Sustained Campaign Of Bullying
The councillor said this retaliation has gone far beyond financial punishment. “For four years I have endured a sustained campaign of bullying, intimidation, demonization, sexual harassment, violent threats, and personal destruction.”
She charged that:
- Mayor Kevin Ashe has publicly stated he wants to keep me ‘on a short leash’, called me names, insulted me, spread rumors about me, demonized me, and posted nasty attacks on Facebook — He has even referred to my constituents as ‘nut cases’. ‘alt right’ and asking if parents are ‘good or bad’ people. Yet I am the one being sanctioned for speaking the truth.
- Council has repeatedly cropped me out of official group photos in which I was present and participating.
- One fellow councillor has subjected me to explicit sexual harassment, telling me he would have an affair with me if I were younger than his spouse and older than his daughter, then directly asking my age. He discussed his wife’s hip surgery and how he might enjoy sleeping in a separate room, and sent me unsolicited photos of a bottle of Malibu rum sitting in the dark in his kitchen, amongst other things.
- The same councillor made violent threats, stating he could ‘stick a knife in my back, slowly twist it’, and that I would never know until he was pulling it out. He also spoke of ‘sharpening his sword’ to decapitate another member of council. Yet the integrity commissioner did nothing, and sweeps all complaints against the mayor and other members of council under the carpet.
Calling Out Corruption
Robinson said her entire term has been defined by near-constant 6-1 votes against me on virtually every issue. “They do not like me, they do not like what I stand for, and they especially do not like me calling out their corruption.”
She said Mayor Kevin Ashe has personally mocked her in relation to Minister Rob Flack’s Bill 9 (Municipal Accountability Act, 2025). “In a social media post today, he stated words to the effect of ‘good news for the residents —, but not so good for Councillor Robinson’.
“This is how he continues to torment, intimidate, and bully me online. I testified before the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly in October 2025 to warn that this bill sets an extremely low threshold for councils to sanction or remove individual councillors who are simply trying to do the right thing. Mayor Ashe also spoke, and made it all about me. If passed in its current form, it will enable even greater harm and make it easier to silence and remove councillors like me,” Robinson pointed out.
Single Mom With Two Mortgages
She said as a single mother with a mortgage and a child to support, this 21-month pay freeze has forced her to take out a second mortgage on her home and has driven her to the food bank. This is not mere discipline — it is an attempt to financially destroy me and force me out of office for doing the job I was elected to do. This has been four years of hell simply for putting my name forward to represent the people of Pickering.
“I am respectfully asking you, as Honourable MPPs, to step in immediately. This is an abuse of power, an abusive process, and a violation of my charter rights. Democratic representation in Pickering is being undermined. I urgently request your assistance to:
- Investigate this matter
- Help restore my pay
- Address the harassment, threats, retaliation, and online bullying I have faced
- Ensure elected officials can serve without fear of weaponized sanctions and personal destruction
“I am available at your earliest convenience for meetings and will provide full documentation of the sanctions, complaints, integrity commissioner reports, threats, sexual harassment, and Mayor Ashe’s social media posts,” Robinson said while pointing out that the people of Pickering deserve fair and democratic representation — and I deserve to be paid for the work I was elected to perform.
There was no comment from Mayor Kevin Ashe or the City of Pickering till late last night.