Conservatives dump Toronto candidate over Islamophobic tweets

The Conservatives have dumped their candidate in the Toronto riding of Beaches–East York after past Islamophobic tweets surfaced.

A spokesperson confirmed that Lisa Robinson will not run under the party's banner in the riding.

"Racism and Islamophobia has no place in the Conservative Party of Canada," said Cory Hann, communications director for the Conservatives. "Our expectation is that all of our candidates conduct themselves in a respectful, tolerant manner. Consequently, we have terminated this individual as a candidate."

Earlier Friday, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the Liberal candidate in the riding who is also the incumbent, published a tweet with a number of screen shots from Robinson's feed, including one of an Islamophobic tweet.

"Our community has faced down hate too many times already, and it's unacceptable that the Conservative Party is giving a platform to someone with these views," Erskine-Smith wrote in the tweet.

In a post to her campaign Facebook page late Friday night, Robinson denied that the account was her.

"The information contained in Mr. Erskine-Smith's social media post was generated by a fake social media account which I reported to police in 2018. I have also signed an attestation confirming these facts," she said.

"Racism and Islamophobia have no place in the Conservative Party of Canada or my campaign."

Robinson adds that she is suspending her campaign to consider her legal options and defend herself against "these defamatory comments."

A spokesperson for the Conservatives told CBC News that Robinson initially denied the tweets were hers, and that her story kept changing. The party disavowed  her as a candidate as a result.