OTTAWA—Federal Conservatives rushed to defend Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan Thursday night after a Conservative group in British Columbia posted a harsh comment about him on its Facebook page.

Earlier this week the “Okanagan Conservatives” posted a photo and a link to a critical news article about Sajjan on their page, along with the comment: “This is what happens when you have a cabinet based on affirmative action.”

Conservative MP James Bezan tweeted that he is disgusted by such an intolerant comment.

Bezan says Sajjan is a respected veteran who proudly served Canada and deserves nothing less than gratitude for his service as a soldier as well as defence minister, even if the two don’t always agree on policy.

Conservative MP Dan Albas, who represents Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, wrote on Twitter that the post came from another riding association’s account and he asked that it be removed. He says although he did not authorize it, he would like to apologize to Sajjan.

Last night the Okanagan Conservatives took to Facebook again, but this time to apologize to Sajjan and those who were offended.

The group says they deleted the post, that it was inappropriate and that it does not reflect the views of the party or any of the riding associations in the Okanagan.

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