Human rights agency asked to help city ‘repair the hurt’
Ontario Human Rights Commission urged to step in after ‘racist’ op-ed
Pickering council is calling in the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) to help it deal with a controversial councillor, who most recently triggered outrage for denouncing Black History Month and the concept of white privilege as “racist.”
Coun. Lisa Robinson’s comments, published in an opinion column in a local newspaper, are the latest in a series of incidents that have thrown council into disarray.
Robinson was docked 90 days pay last fall after Pickering’s integrity commissioner concluded that she had “promoted attitudes that are homophobic and transphobic,” and that she engaged in a passive-aggressive bullying tactic in a social media post.
At a fiery meeting on Tuesday, council voted 6-1 to ask the OHRC to hold a public interest inquiry in Pickering on the need to give municipalities tools to address the conduct of an elected official who “engages in behaviour that promotes racism, prejudice, bias and/ or discrimination against an identifiable group, including their removal from office.”
Robinson was the sole councillor who voted against the motion. She denies that her statements in the Oshawa/Durham Central Newspaper were racist and is challenging the findings of the integrity commissioner in court.
At the meeting on Tuesday, she said the motion was “unfairly cherry-picking half-truths to fit a predetermined narrative” and failed to mention the “numerous positive comments” and support she has received.
“I pose a threat to the status quo. I fearlessly expose the corruption that runs rampant in our city hall, and I am shining a light on the abuse of power by both staff and council members. And for this, I have become the target of their malicious attacks,” she said. “I’m on the right side of history.”
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe responded that she had not provided evidence of corruption or substantiated other allegations she levelled against fellow councillors and city staff. Robinson said that though she has previously met with staff, she doesn’t “have the trust that if I bring it forward to them anything is going to be done about it.”
Coun. Maurice Brenner, who brought forward Tuesday’s motion, said it is not a request for the Human Rights Commission to investigate Robinson or council.
“It is asking the commission to assist the city of Pickering so that we can move forward to repair the hurt to repair the damage that has been done in this community,” he told council.
Brenner said the arm’s-length government agency has a mandate to make recommendations on draft policies or legislation, such as a proposal that would allow municipalities to send an integrity commissioner’s findings to a judge to decide whether a member who has violated the code of conduct should be removed.
“This is in my eyes and in my view something that is badly needed not just in the City of Pickering but across Ontario,” he said.
Robinson countered that the motion is “just about me.” Before the vote she had asked for the motion to be amended to request a “comprehensive inquiry into the conduct of all councillors” but none seconded her motion.
When Robinson’s op-ed was published in February, Ashe slammed the article as “racist, irresponsible and unethical.”
In the op-ed, Robinson said we have become “hung up” on the transatlantic slave trade and defended her characterization of herself as a “modern-day slave” following council’s decision to dock her pay last fall.
“I feel I was persecuted and punished and that my rights and freedoms were violated to the point where I felt discriminated,” she wrote. “The point is that we are all of all colors (sic) ‘MODERN-DAY SLAVES.’”
According to the motion that passed on Tuesday, Robinson’s comments “have been widely deemed to be homophobic, transphobic and threatening,” and have “negatively impacted Black communities and other protected identifiable groups.”