David McLaughlin, former chief of staff to prime minister Brian Mulroney, says Alberta's referendum on its future in Canada now feels like a “performative, self-indulgent stunt” because of Canada's escalating trade war with the United States.

That's quite a dismissal of hundreds of thousands of Albertans who participated in the democratic process that brought the province to this point.

And it rests on a strange premise: that because Canada is fighting with Donald Trump, Albertans should apparently reconsider whether they should even be having a democratic debate about their own future.

After Friday night, holding a referendum in Alberta on separation feels like a performative, self-indulgent stunt. https://t.co/wlx4GSmjJo

— David McLaughlin (@DavidMcLA) August 24, 2026

“After Friday night, holding a referendum in Alberta on separation feels like a performative, self-indulgent stunt,” McLaughlin wrote on X.

He was responding to former Harper chief of staff Ian Brodie, who noted the different standards being applied to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“Premier Smith, who is campaigning for Remain, is accused of having mixed allegiances,” Brodie wrote. “Mr. Carney, who is said to be leading the Resistance to Trump, is never accused of mixed allegiances.”

McLaughlin isn't an outside observer unfamiliar with federal-provincial disputes.

He served as chief of staff to former prime minister Mulroney, held senior positions in the New Brunswick government and worked with the Council of the Federation on its examination of Canada's fiscal imbalance.

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He should be particularly familiar with the fact that Alberta's grievances didn't suddenly appear when Trump returned to the White House.

Alberta's October 19 vote isn't a referendum on Trump.

Albertans are being asked to make a decision about Alberta's future within Canada and whether the province should proceed toward a binding referendum on independence.

The issues driving Alberta's independence movement include equalization, federal energy policies, pipeline cancellations and delays, fiscal transfers, representation in federal institutions, resource development and repeated disputes over the constitutional division of powers.

Those debates predate Trump by decades. Some predate McLaughlin's own time working in the Prime Minister's Office.

A trade war doesn't magically resolve any of them — in fact, the trade war may actually strengthen the argument for having the debate.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is publicly demanding that “everything” be put on the table against Washington, including oil, potash and uranium.

Former Alberta premier Alison Redford says Alberta oil should be treated as a “Canadian resource” and used as leverage.

Canadians have every reason to be upset with the breakdown in the trade negotiations with the United States. The U.S. tariffs are harmful to both countries and are straining one of the most successful trading relationships on earth.

Canada now faces significant job losses, and… pic.twitter.com/UgVgXFvy6F

— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) August 24, 2026

Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has rejected withholding Alberta energy from the U.S.

In other words, the latest national crisis has immediately resurrected one of the central questions behind Western alienation: Who gets to decide what happens to Alberta's resources when the interests of Central Canada and Alberta diverge?

You can oppose independence. You can campaign against it. You can vote against it. But democracy itself is never a stunt.