In a now deleted March 30 Facebook post, Salmon Arm-Shuswap MLA David Williams promoted a graphic which depicts western Canada, including the majority of British Columbia, as the “Republic of Western Canada.”

The graphic describes the western provinces as a “Protectorate of the United States.”

In addition, Williams said “Confederation has not been fair to western provinces” and that “Something needs to change.”

A screenshot of the post is available here.

BC NDP MLA Ravi Parmar: “Canada will never be the 51st state. For one of Rustad’s MLAs to promote British Columbia becoming a ‘Protectorate of the United States’ is appalling. This is just another instance of pro-Trump, pro-U.S. rhetoric from John Rustad and his team.”