Beaches-East York CCP Candidate Asked To Resign Over ‘Offensive’ Tweets

In the wake of allegations of Islamophobic tweets, the Conservative Party of Canada has asked Conservative Beaches-East York candidate Lisa Robinson to resign her candidacy.

“Racism and Islamophobia have no place in the Conservative Party of Canada,” CCP spokeswoman Chelsea Tucker said in an email to the Star. “Our expectation is that all of our candidates behave in a respectful and tolerant manner. Subsequently, we have fired this individual as a candidate. “

Robinson cannot be removed from the ballot this close to the Sept. 20 election, but she would be denied a spot on the Conservative caucus if she wins.

On a tweet On Friday morning, Robinson’s opponent and incumbent Congressman Nathaniel Erskine-Smith posted screenshots of tweets dating back to 2017, when Robinson was running for city council for District 1 in Ajax. The tweets feature an account with Robinson’s head shot for a display photo with the name “District 1 City Councilor Candidate” saying Muslims should “go home.”

Screenshots also show the account retweeting Australian far-right extremist Blair Cottrell lamenting that “society” reacts in a “feminine” way to terrorism. Another retweet is from an account asking parents in the Durham region to “demand an end to this mind blowing shit” in the landmark LGBTQ inclusion training.

Robinson, who will remain on the ballot, denied being the author of the tweets.

“This account is bogus and in 2018 I reported it to the Durham Police. I will sign a certification confirming these facts, ”Robinson responded. “Sharing this false information is defamatory and should be removed immediately. Alternatively, you will receive a defamation notice shortly. “

The Star reached out to Robinson’s campaign to request evidence of the filing of the police report. The campaign declined to comment. The Durham Regional Police Service did not respond to a request for comment.

According to her campaign website, Robinson is a “real estate negotiation expert and a senior real estate specialist.” He has been working in the real estate sector for more than 20 years.

Robinson recently earned an honors paralegal diploma and became a member of the Law Society of Ontario, according to her website, and was appointed a notary public.

Erskine-Smith told Star in an interview on Friday that she reached out to Robinson directly via Twitter DM after she denied writing the tweets to verify authorship.

“Obviously, I don’t want to share wrong information, so I asked him if he had flagged the account on Twitter at some point,” he said. “She said no, due to lack of computer skills. He told me that finally, with help, he had deleted (the account). “

Erskine-Smith said she received the screenshots she posted from a campaign staff member, who said she took them before 2018.

“He also posted, on his current Twitter account, conspiracy theories surrounding the Dominion voting system. “

Erskine-Smith said she shared the screenshots because she found the writing on them “unacceptable.”

“Retweeting a known neo-Nazi and suggesting that Muslims should leave the country is obviously offensive,” he said.

Mustafa Farooq, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, told the Star that his organization had planned to call for Robinson’s removal from the elections before the CCP’s announcement.

“If you posted those tweets, there is no world where you shouldn’t resign or be removed,” Farooq said.

Ben Cohen is a Star staff reporter in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @bcohenn