Pop quiz: is the City of Pickering located in the Dominion of Canada — or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea? It’s hard to tell these days, really. Check out these examples of censorious measures adopted by this council, all in the name of shutting down free speech: delegation times have been slashed from 10 minutes to five minutes; there is no longer a question and answer period; media outlets have to be “approved” by two-thirds of council in order for the journalist to cover the meeting; recording meetings on cellphones is now prohibited; and there are allegations that the live feed of council meetings are allegedly being manipulated and censored. Oh, and if you dare offend this precious council with an impolite statement or query, members of the Durham Regional Police Service are now du rigueur fixtures at council meetings.
The cops are ready and willing to frog-march any “malcontents” out of city hall — a kinder, gentler, thought police version of the Gestapo if you will...
It gets worse. If you happen to be a non-woke councillor who is NOT marching in lockstep with Mayor Kevin Ashe, then you shall indeed pay a hefty price. Case in point: councillor Lisa Robinson.
For voicing contrarian opinions, she frequently has her microphone muted. And when that fails to shut her up, the mayor and his cronies economically penalize her, literally docking her months’ worth of salary (she has lost six months’ worth of pay so far due to her so-called “unaccep.