Subhead:The convoy didn’t emerge from Alberta separatism. For many Albertans, Alberta separatism emerged from the aftermath of the convoy in response to the government’s response to it.#
Veteran Progressive Conservative operative David McLaughlin is attempting to discredit Alberta’s independence movement by reminding people that Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich once sat on the board of the Maverick Party. Instead, he discredits himself.
His implication is clear: because some people involved in Alberta’s independence movement were also involved in the Freedom Convoy, Albertans should be suspicious of the independence movement itself.
Never forget the convoy crowd was led by Alberta separatists. https://t.co/wOAjm8bqio
— David McLaughlin (@DavidMcLA) June 20, 2026
The problem is that this argument ignores what the Freedom Convoy actually was.
Tamara Lich did serve on the board of the Maverick Party. She has never hidden that fact. But when the Freedom Convoy rolled across Canada in 2022, it was not an Alberta independence campaign. It was a nationwide protest against vaccine mandates, travel restrictions, and unprecedented government intrusion into the lives of ordinary Canadians.
Participants came from every province. They carried Canadian flags. They weren’t demanding separation. They were demanding that governments respect the constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians.
And history has not been kind to those who dismissed those concerns.
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