Tories cut ties with candidate over tweets

Following allegations of Islamophobic tweets, Beaches— East York Conservative candidate Lisa Robinson has been asked to step down from her candidacy by the Conservative Party of Canada.

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

In a tweet Friday morning, Robinson’s opponent and riding incumbent MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith posted screenshots of tweets dating back to 2017, when Robinson was a city council candidate for Ward 1 in Ajax. The tweets show an account with Robinson’s headshot for a display photo with the name “Ward 1 city councillor, candidate” writing that Muslim people should “go home.”

The screenshots also show the account retweeting Australian far-right extremist Blair Cottrell bemoaning “society” reacting in a “feminine” way to terrorism.

Another retweet is of an account asking Durham to “demand an end to this mindbending s---” in reference to LGBTQ inclusivity training.

Robinson, who will remain on the ballot, denied having authored the tweets.

“This account is fake and in 2018 I reported it to the Durham police. I will be signing an attestation confirming these facts,” replied Robinson.

The Star reached out to Robinson’s campaign requesting proof of the police report filing. The campaign declined to offer any comment on the matter. Durham Regional Police Service did not respond to a request for comment.