Councillors ask province for stronger powers

Officials express concern over colleague's alleged connection to Nazi sympathizers’

- BEN SPURR

Elected officials in Pickering are asking the province for stronger powers to address the “dangerous rhetoric” of one of their colleagues, after she defended her presence at an event where some participants wore swastikas.

In a letter to Premier Doug Ford and Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra dated Sept. 6, Mayor Kevin Ashe and five of Pickering’s six councillors expressed “serious concerns” about Coun. Lisa Robinson’s alleged “connections to Nazi sympathizers.”

Robinson has denied the allegations, and described them as “slanderous.”

“The City is deeply troubled by the potential impact any association between publicly elected officials and neo-Nazi supporters may have on the safety of our residents and neighbours, particularly within the Jewish community,” read the letter, which said Robinson had inflamed the situation by “clumsily” attempting to downplay the swastika as “a tribal symbol with no connection to Nazism.”

The group told the province Robinson’s behaviour, which comes amid an increase in reports of antisemitic incidents, “reinforces the urgent need for a stronger legislative response.” They asked the premier and minister to consider legislative changes that would allow municipalities to impose stricter penalties on councillors “whose actions foster hate and division,” including removal from office.