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By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Robinson’s exit a necessary cruelty in the business of politics

Feb 8, 2024 | 5:58 AM

POLITICS IS A CRUEL business. You can be in it for all the right reasons. Serve your constituents well for many years. Achieve positive changes.

And then you stumble. You say something you regret, and suddenly your political career is over.
First elected in 2013, Selina Robinson served as municipal affairs minister, minister of citizens’ services and finance minister. Even after David Eby demoted her from finance to minister of post-secondary education and future skills despite her having crafted a $5.7 billion budget surplus, she remained a star in his cabinet.

She worked on the mental health, addictions, public safety and environment files, and helped get funding to combat racism and discrimination. A Jew herself, she was instrumental in mandating Holocaust education in the school curriculum.

Only a few weeks ago, she was being praised for her condemnation of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Meanwhile, she went through two cancer diagnoses.

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Then came the stumble. In an online panel discussion, she said Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.” The outrage was instant. She was accused of racism, colonialism, of insulting Palestinians.

She tried to explain that she was talking about the lack of natural resources in what is now Israel.

She apologized, twice, and unequivocally. Her remarks, she said, had caused pain and stress to the Palestinian community, the Muslim community and beyond.

“My words were inappropriate, wrong, and I now understand how they have contributed to Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism,” she said. She promised to do better.

She offered to take anti-Islamophobia training.

It wasn’t enough. Officially, she and Eby made the decision together for her to resign.

Regardless of the free pass given certain pro-Palestinians who have made much more outrageous statements, what she said was foolish, especially given the current political climate.

With an election coming, Eby had no choice. And the province has lost a good minister.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.