On Canada Day, former prime minister Justin Trudeau brushed aside concerns about separatism, telling CBC he doesn't worry "as long as Canadians don't forget who we are," describing Canada as a country where people help one another in times of crisis.

Q: Do you worry about separatist sentiments?

Trudeau: I don't worry as long as Canadians don't forget who we are. And who we are as a people is people who are open to each other and they're for our neighbours. We help anytime there's a disaster, anytime there's a challenge, we… pic.twitter.com/kxblO6EOZF

— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson_) July 1, 2026

For many Albertans, that's a difficult message to accept from a politician they believe spent years deepening divisions and fuelling Western alienation.

During the pandemic, Trudeau referred to some unvaccinated Canadians as a "fringe minority" holding "unacceptable views" and questioned whether Canadians should tolerate people who "don't believe in science" and are "often misogynists and racists." His government imposed vaccine mandates that prevented unvaccinated Canadians from boarding planes and trains and required federal workers to be vaccinated.

You believe anything this silver spooned Laurentian elite says? Compare the bs he spewed in your post with his true colours. pic.twitter.com/UtAxrBUHSe

— HuckH (@NormonH3) July 1, 2026

To many Canadians, particularly in Alberta, those comments and policies created the impression that there were acceptable Canadians and unacceptable Canadians.

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But the sense of alienation in Alberta goes beyond COVID.

Over the last decade, Trudeau's government introduced a series of energy and environmental policies that many Albertans viewed as direct attacks on the province's economic engine. These included the federal carbon tax, Bill C-48's oil tanker ban on British Columbia's north coast, Bill C-69's new project approval regime, proposed emissions caps on the oil and gas sector, and regulations that industry leaders say have made major projects and pipelines increasingly difficult to build.

Danielle Smith today in Quebec calls Steven Guilbeault the most destructive politician to national unity that we’ve ever seen.

She says of she was proposing an alternative referendum question that Steven Guilbeault should never be allowed to run for political office again she… pic.twitter.com/fA5jsFSJ6r

— Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 (@ryangerritsen) June 4, 2026

Oil sands executives have repeatedly warned that Canada's regulatory environment has driven investment south of the border and made major energy infrastructure projects nearly impossible to finance. Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute estimates Alberta has contributed hundreds of billions of dollars more to Confederation than it has received in federal spending over the last several decades.

I know many of you have seen this clip of Carney & his Government basically being called out by Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie.
But just look at his face & reaction when being told what Jon said about Canada’s insane climate policies & how they are hurting investment. pic.twitter.com/2O9LAhAaj5

— Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 (@ryangerritsen) May 8, 2026

Separatist sentiment in Alberta did not appear out of nowhere. It has grown amid years of disputes over pipelines, equalization, federal regulation and the perception that Ottawa neither understands nor respects Alberta's economic interests.

Whether Trudeau is the proverbial "arsonist" is ultimately a matter of opinion. But it is fair to say that many of the grievances driving Alberta's independence movement today intensified during the Trudeau years.

A politician who now calls for national unity is also, in the eyes of many Albertans, one of the people who helped light the match.