Robinson said she had met with the Premier’s Office to pitch the idea of antisemitic and anti-Islamophobia training for the caucus but that idea was rebuffed.
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Premier David Eby this morning addressed allegations made by former cabinet minister Selina Robinson that the NDP caucus has an antisemitism problem which is what led her decision to leave the party.
“The caucus is certainly feeling quite hurt and sad today. Selina is an important part of our team,” Eby told reporters in the legislature. “As a leader, for me it’s a real day for examination of what the opportunities were, where I could have potentially intervened and address some of the concerns Selina had.”
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Robinson made the bombshell allegations Wednesday after she released a letter to her NDP colleagues outlining her decision to sit as an Independent.
“This is not the party I signed on with — it has become a party that is afraid to stand with people, people who were hurting. It is now a party that puts politics and re-election before people,” she wrote.
Robinson was forced to resign on Feb. 5 following backlash over controversial statements she made during an online forum in late January that Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.”
In the letter, Robinson outlined several examples where NDP MLAs made comments that were offensive to the Jewish community. She said those MLAs apologized and were allowed to carry on with their work but she was forced to resign which represents a double standard.
“Antisemitism is silencing an openly identified Jewish person who is speaking out about antisemitism. Your collective decision to silence me is antisemitism and you don’t even know it.”
She ended the letter with: “Silence is not leadership — it’s cowardice. And I cannot be silent.”
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In the letter Robinson criticized Eby’s chief of staff Matt Smith for rejecting her idea that she facilitate a dialogue between Jewish, Palestinian and Arab communities to heal the divisions over the Israel-Hamas war.
Eby said Robinson had asked for public service resources to help with the outreach project and “it was not appropriate for the public service to be doing that work.”
Eby said he met with Robinson Wednesday to ask about the progress in her anti-Islamophobia training, which she committed to taking to repair the harm caused by her comments.
Robinson did not tell Eby during that meeting about her intentions to leave caucus, instead breaking the news through the media Wednesday afternoon.
Eby said it’s “humbling” to realize Robionson didn’t feel comfortable enough with him to raise her concerns.
Eby was asked several times if he believes there’s antisemitism within the NDP.
“Even though I disagree with Selina’s characterization of a number of my colleagues on this letter, who fight every day to fight racism and discrimination, I have to accept as a leader, that as a Jewish woman with these unique experiences in our caucus, she didn’t feel safe,” he said. “She didn’t feel safe with me to bring forward her concerns and she felt she had to resign. So I’ll examine that.”
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B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad has called on Eby to resign over his handling of Robinson’s concerns.
“His reaction to Selina Robinson’s letter reveals his willingness to blame the victim,” Rustad said on social media. “It wasn’t enough for Eby to publicly humiliate her, with a forced resignation. Now he’s blaming her emotions for the rampant antisemitism her letter exposed.”
Robinson, who has served as finance minister, post-secondary education minister, and minister of municipal affairs and housing, had already announced she won’t run for re-election in the Coquitlam-Maillardville riding that she has held since 2013.
More to come …
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