Ousted B.C. NDP minister Selina Robinson releases tell-all book

Former B.C. NDP cabinet minister Selina Robinson recently released a self-published memoir titled “Truth be Told.”

In the book, Robinson, who served more than a decade as an NDP MLA for Coquitlam-Mallardville, opens up about her highly public resignation from her role as minister of post-secondary education earlier this year.

“There were certainly challenges that I was experiencing, in our government,” Robinson told CTV News. “And that really wasn't part of the story that got told with my firing. And I felt that that needed to be told.”

Robinson came under scrutiny in February 2024 after commenting in an online forum via Zoom that Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land.”

Pro-Palestinian groups pressured the NDP government to take action and Robinson says she was eventually forced by B.C. Premier David Eby to resign.

“He called and he said, ‘I see no way forward,’” said Robinson. “And I said, I don't know what that means. And he kept repeating, ‘I see no way forward,’ that was his line.”

Robinson, a prominent voice in the Jewish community, says she believes she was targeted by the pro-Palestinian group long before making the comment.

“The fact that there were 11,000 signatures collected in less than 24 hours, demanding for my firing, is an indication that there were other things going on,” said Robinson.

Robinson later released a scathing letter alleging antisemitism within the NDP party.

“Even though I disagree with Selina’s characterization of a number of my colleagues in this letter, who fight everyday (against) racism and discrimination, I have to accept as a leader that, as a Jewish woman with these unique experiences in caucus, she didn’t feel safe,” Eby told CTV News in March.

Robinson, however, isn’t holding back on her thoughts on the premier’s response to Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I spent 11 years building relationships between the New Democrats and the Jewish community and I didn’t want that to go down the toilet,” said Robinson. “It’s gone down the toilet. David sent it down the toilet.”

Profits from Robinson’s book benefit combatting antisemitism and helping support Israeli and Palestinian families impacted by the conflict.