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Selina Robinson
Canadian politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Selina Mae Robinson (née Dardick; born 1964)[1] is a Canadian politician who was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election and remained in the legislature until 2024.[2]
She represented the electoral district of Coquitlam-Maillardville, first as a British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) MLA and then as an Independent.[3] She served in the cabinet of British Columbia from 2017 until 2024.
She stepped down in February 2024 after she called Palestine "a crappy piece of land with nothing on it" until the founding of Israel.[4]
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Early life
Born in Montreal as Selina Dardick, she moved with her parents to Richmond, British Columbia, in 1978.[1][5] After graduating from Simon Fraser University with a master's degree in counselling psychology,[2] she joined the Jewish Family Service Agency, eventually becoming its associate executive director.[5] A resident of Coquitlam since 1994, she worked as a family therapist before entering politics as a member of Coquitlam City Council.[6]
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Politics
In September 2012, Robinson announced her intention to seek the BC NDP nomination for Coquitlam-Maillardville in the next provincial election;[7] she was acclaimed the NDP's candidate for the riding in November that year.[8] She was initially declared defeated on election night in 2013, with Steve Kim of the BC Liberals deemed winner by 105 votes. However, once absentee ballots were counted, she pulled ahead to win the riding by a 35-vote margin over Kim.[9] A judicial recount confirmed Robinson's victory by a final margin of 41 votes.[10] She served as critic for mental health and addictions, seniors, local government and sports in the NDP shadow cabinet.[11]
In the 2017 provincial election, Robinson once again faced Steve Kim, this time winning by more than 2400 votes.[12] She was subsequently appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the new BC NDP government under Premier John Horgan.[13][14] Following the resignation of Jinny Sims from cabinet in October 2019, Robinson briefly assumed the role of Minister of Citizens' Services,[15] until Anne Kang took over the position in January 2020.[16]
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Cabinet Minister
Following her re-election in 2020, she was appointed Minister of Finance.[17][18] After Horgan announced his retirement as premier and party leader in 2022, Robinson considered running to replace him before deciding otherwise.[19][20] On December 7, 2022, she was appointed Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills by Premier David Eby.[21]
Following the start of the Gaza war, Robinson claimed that Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth called her "every single day from Oct. 7 for about 10 days, to report in to me about what was happening on the ground".[22] Robinson worked with B'nai Brith to mandate Holocaust education in the school curriculum which would be organized by the pro-Israel organization CIJA.[22]
Remarks on Palestinians
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Perspective
Selena Robinson stepped down from the NDP after she said that Palestine was "a crappy piece of land" before Israel was founded.[4]
"a crappy piece of land"
In early 2024, Selena Robinson made the following comments during an online event hosted by B'nai Brith Canada,[23]
How [Israel] started. It was a crappy piece of land with nothing on it – you know, there were several hundred thousand people but other than that, it didn’t produce an economy. It couldn’t grow things. It didn’t have anything on it.
— Selena Robinson
Adel Iskandar, a professor at Simon Fraser University, stated that "There’s absolutely no history book that would affirm Minister Robinson’s articulation of that period in time... Obviously it was not a 'crappy piece of land'. It is the land that has had over 15,000 years of human habitability", and describing the suggestion that the land was empty as a "fundamentally colonialist narrative". Federal NDP MP Matthew Green characterised Robinson's comments as historically inaccurate and "deeply derogatory and insensitive", and called on Eby to reconsider Robinson's ministerial position.[24] Robinson apologised for the comments later that week, calling them "disrespectful," continuing to clarify "I was referring to the fact that the land has limited natural resources". In a statement, Eby said that Robinson's claim was "wrong and unacceptable... I thank her for withdrawing the comments and apologizing unreservedly", though Robinson did not publicly withdraw the comment.[23]
On February 1, 2024, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) alongside the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) released a statement calling on David Eby to call for the immediate resignation of Robinson.[25] FPSE also describe Robinson as undermining "the democratic principles of freedom of expression, academic freedom, and a college and university system free of direct manipulation by the provincial government" given that Robinson had been directly involved in pressuring Langara College to fire Dr. Natalie Knight regarding her comments in support of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.[25] They cite Robinson, retweeting a call by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) for Langara to fire Knight and that Robinson had later met with the College to express concerns about Knight’s reinstatement.[25]
On February 5, 2024, she was dismissed from her position as Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills because of comments about Israel being founded on a 'crappy piece of land,',[26] which reflected denial of the violence of colonialism and potential support for a settler colony, although Robinson clarified she was referring to the fact that the land has limited natural resources.[27][28] After a protest of the BC NDP retreat in Surrey, BC, Robinson was dismissed.[29]
Dismissal of Dr. Natalie Knight
On October 28, 2023, Dr. Natalie Knight, an instructor at Langara College made remarks that were interpreted as praising the October 7 attacks. She was initially put on leave, but then reinstated in January 2024 after Langara College conducted an investigation and found that Knight did not violate the college's policies.[30][25] Her remarks had been deemed offensive to some, but ultimately protected under academic freedom.[31] However, after the reinstatement, Selena Robinson met with the college administration and called for Knight's termination – and on January 26, the college terminated Knight.[31] Michael Conlon of FPSE said it was unprecendented for a politician to intervene directly into a college's internal matters and Robinson was "abusing her ministerial powers to silence political views that don’t agree with her own".[31]
On February 1, 2024, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) alongside the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) released a statement calling on David Eby to call for the immediate resignation of Robinson.[25] FPSE also describe Robinson as undermining "the democratic principles of freedom of expression, academic freedom, and a college and university system free of direct manipulation by the provincial government".[25]
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Post-cabinet
Following her dismissal, she announced she feels unsupported as a Jewish woman in her party, that she faced double standards by her party and would not seek re-election as an MLA at the 2024 election.[3]
On March 6, 2024, she announced she would sit as an independent.[3] In the 2024 British Columbia general election her seat was held by the NDP by Jennifer Blatherwick.[32]
On January 1, 2025, she told the National Post that the NDP had been antisemitic "for years" and that progressive parties like the NDP are pandering to "conservative Muslim groups that are anti-Israel".[33]
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Electoral record
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See also
References
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