B.C. premier says talk of Western Canada separation ‘needs to stop’

British Columbia Premier David Eby says talk of western provinces separating from the rest of Canada is a “tired trope” that wastes time and “needs to stop.”

Eby says he doesn’t think there’s any credible threat to Canadian unity and accused people like former Reform Party leader Preston Manning of “seeking clicks and playing to a political base” that is disavowed by the vast majority of Canadians.

Manning said in an op-ed in the Globe and Mail newspaper earlier this month that a vote for a Liberal government in the federal election equals a vote for Western secession.

Eby says such a suggestion is an attack on the unity Canada is experiencing amid the U.S. tariff fight, for political and partisan gains.

The premier, who has raised concerns about B.C.’s share of federal funding in the past, says benefits from Ottawa need to be equally distributed across the country based on population size.

He says a “significant source of the fuel” used by people who call for separation is that funding is not distributed fairly, and his advice for the next prime minister would be “to do the basic fairness things” to address those concerns.

“There are special programs for Ontario and Quebec that are not delivered to other provinces. And when that happens, it gives these opportunists the chance to get on Facebook and say, ‘Yeah, let’s separate from the rest of Canada,'” Eby said.

“It’s nonsense, but it feeds that fire.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025.