Selina Robinson quits B.C. NDP, citing antisemitism in caucus

Former British Columbia cabinet minister Selina Robinson has quit the NDP, citing antisemitism in the ruling party's caucus.

Robinson, who is Jewish, says she can no longer remain in the party because it is not properly addressing antisemitism in the province or among her former colleagues.

Robinson told an impromptu news conference in a hallway of the B.C. legislature that she will now sit as an Independent.

She resigned her cabinet post as minister of post-secondary education last month after saying modern Israel was founded on "a crappy piece of land."

The Jan. 30 remarks sparked an outcry from pro-Palestinian groups that called them racist and Islamophobic.

Robinson, who has also previously served as finance minister, says she hasn't heard from Premier David Eby or any other members of the NDP caucus since informing them of her decision.

Eby said last month that Robinson's "belittling" remarks were incompatible with her remaining in cabinet.