Pickering councillor gets most severe pay penalty as council seeks stronger recourse

A councillor in a southern Ontario city has been issued a 90-day pay suspension – the most severe penalty possible under current rules – after the municipality’s integrity commissioner found she has been demonstrating a continued pattern of “unacceptable behaviour” that risks hurting marginalized members of society.It’s the latest in a series of penalties levelled against Coun. Lisa Robinson of Pickering, Ont., and a situation that the mayor has said underscores the need for changes to the province’s Municipal Act to allow stricter sanctions, up to the removal of a councillor from office.