The United States has accused Canadian politicians of trying to influence its midterm elections, pointing to Ottawa’s efforts to resist President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign. In a fact sheet released on Wednesday, the US embassy said Canada was ignoring Washington’s concerns about election interference.
The embassy argued that Canadian ministers and premiers have openly described plans to shape American politics in official documents and in public appearances. It said public statements about tariffs amounted to attempts to affect the November 3 midterm election, although it did not explain how those statements crossed into interference.
Embassy points to Joly’s tariff remarks and meetings
The two countries have been caught in a trade war since Trump began his second term in 2025, and Canada has answered US tariffs with import taxes of its own. The fact sheet singled out Industry Minister Melanie Joly, citing comments she made in August about the response to Trump’s tariffs. In those remarks, Joly said Canada was targeting products from particular US states to apply political pressure.
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The embassy also objected to Joly’s September meetings with Democratic officials in Boston and Chicago. When a reporter asked what might happen to tariffs if Democrats won the midterms, she replied that this was exactly why she was meeting so many governors and potential presidential candidates.
Joly has rejected the idea that her actions amount to interference, and said Canada would never meddle in US elections. She described her meetings with both Democratic and Republican politicians as efforts to build Canada’s economy. “Fundamentally, what I’ve done in the US is to attract investments,” she told reporters on October 14.
Ford, Housefather and 11 charged voters named
The embassy also cited Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s calls for retaliatory measures against US products. It pointed to his government’s advertising campaign against Trump’s tariffs, which was launched last year. That campaign included clips of former US President Ronald Reagan criticising tariffs in a 1987 radio address, and it prompted Trump to call off trade talks with Canada in October 2025.
Other alleged examples of interference included comments from Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who said he had campaigned in Florida for Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz before her August primary. The fact sheet did not stop at politicians. It accused individual Canadians of illegally taking part in US elections and named 11 people who had been charged or sentenced for voting between 2012 and 2024.
However, the document did not offer any evidence connecting those individuals to a Canadian government effort to get involved in US elections. In its statement, the embassy told all Canadians to avoid trying to take part in or influence US elections in any way. “Americans decide America’s elections,” it said.
Hoekstra warning and strained ties ahead of Alberta vote
The fact sheet followed a remark a week earlier by US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, who said Washington was closely watching Canada for signs of interference before the midterms. In a podcast interview on The Really Big Show, Hoekstra said the US would respond if parts of Canada’s activity became election interference.
The two countries have long been allies, but relations have deteriorated since Trump returned to office. Trump has not only started a trade war with Canada but has also repeatedly threatened to make the country a 51st state. Separately, there have been reports that separatist leaders from Alberta sought support from Trump administration officials before a provincial referendum on the province’s independence, which failed this week.
Ahead of Monday’s provincial vote, Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed concerns about possible US interference in the referendum. He said Canada expected foreign governments, the United States included, to stay out of its elections, and that Canada would do the same. “Our expectation is, to be absolutely clear, on foreign governments, United States included, is we don’t get ourselves involved in their elections, they don’t get themselves involved in our elections,” he told Global News.
Comment has been requested from the Prime Minister’s Office, Global Affairs Canada, the office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Industry Minister Joly.
