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Julia Wilkes and Sean Pierce successfully represented the City of Pickering and its Integrity Commissioner at the Divisional Court in combined applications for judicial review of two sanctions imposed on Councillor Lisa Robinson for breaches of Pickering’s Code of Conduct.

Councillor Robinson had sought judicial review of two City Council had unanimously imposed on her—a 30-day and then a 60-day pay suspension—following the Integrity Commissioner’s reports finding that she had twice breached the Code of Conduct. The breaches involved (1) a Facebook post identifying residents who had opposed the Councillor’s minor variance application; and (2) the Councillor’s conduct promoting transphobic and homophobic attitudes outside a school board meeting in a neighbouring municipality.

The Divisional Court confirmed that municipal Integrity Commissioners perform an investigative—not an adjudicative role—and that they do not exercise a statutory power of decision under the Judicial Review Procedure Act independent from a municipality’s decision to impose a sanction. In doing so, the Court provided important and much needed clarity on this issue

In rejecting Councillor Robinson’s argument that the sanctions unreasonably limited her Charter right to freedom of expression, the Justices also provided clarity as to how municipal Integrity Commissioners should balance Charter concerns with their statutory mandate.