CTV reports Pete Hoekstra told business leaders in a closed-door meeting that losses in swing races could make life harder for Canada. The US embassy says his remarks were “grossly taken out of context”.
The US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, has suggested that Canada could be blamed if Republicans perform poorly in next week’s midterm elections. CTV News reported on Wednesday that he told business leaders at a closed-door meeting that if swing races, including those in Maine and Michigan, go to the Democrats, it could make things harder for Canada because Donald Trump might try to blame it for the loss. Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “That’s an interesting way of framing it.” Mr Hoekstra has also accused Canadian officials of interfering in US elections.
The embassy’s response
The US embassy denied that Mr Hoekstra said Canada would face blame, suggesting the remarks were “grossly taken out of context” from a broader discussion. In a statement it said: “The ambassador has consistently said that the Canadian media is attempting to overstate the relevance of Canadian issues in American elections. As we have previously stated, Americans will decide American elections based on issues that are important to them.”
Accusations of interference
Canada and the US have been locked in a bitter tariff war for months, with Ottawa retaliating against what it calls illegal US tariffs and targeting goods from states that rely heavily on trade with Canada. Mr Carney said Canada “will pursue” a deal if one presents itself, but that its negotiators are “not in that position right now”.
Mr Hoekstra, who comes from Michigan, has pointed to Canadian politicians who have criticised the tariffs in US media, and to an Ontario anti-tariff advertisement shown on US television. “We see all of that. We are monitoring it. We are evaluating it. And if some of it becomes election interference, America will respond to it,” he recently told a Canadian podcast, adding that Canadians should “keep your nose out of American politics”.
Industry minister Melanie Joly, who was a target of his comments, told reporters in Ottawa that her country “would never do that” and would “never accept that also being done to us in Canada”. Mr Carney, speaking in Turkey, said there was “no merit” to the claims and that he was “disappointed that their envoy sees that as his role, to make these suggestions”.
According to the research notes, the embassy published a document on 21 October naming Ms Joly, citing her remarks about targeting US states and her meetings with Democrats including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. It also named Ontario premier Doug Ford over the advertisement using Ronald Reagan’s words, and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather over his support for the Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The Associated Press reports it also cited 11 Canadians charged with voting illegally in US elections. Canadian officials say their activities concerned trade policy, economic interests or ordinary political engagement. The embassy has not linked the criminal cases to the Canadian government. The Ontario advertisement aired during the 2025 World Series, a year before the midterms.
Reporting on 25 October said Mr Hoekstra acknowledged on a podcast that the embassy had not concluded that Canadian officials were interfering. There is no verified finding of illegal interference. Canadian Press reports that Global Affairs Canada told diplomats on 20 October not to meet US midterm candidates or attend their campaign events.
Criticism of the ambassador
Roland Paris, director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and a foreign affairs adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, called the remarks an “extraordinary thing” for a US ambassador to say about his host country, and said it looked like an effort to “manufacture a pretext for the Trump administration’s own political difficulties”.
“The job of an ambassador is to represent the interests of his country, but it’s also to maintain channels of communication and build relationships and manage disagreements,” he said. “His comments have repeatedly aggravated tensions instead of helping to manage them. I don’t think that he’s serving American interests very well. I’m not even sure that he’s serving the interests of his president.”
He pointed to US polling showing voters increasingly linking tariffs, the war and the cost of living, and widespread confusion over why the White House treats Canada as a trade adversary. “It’s certainly not working in Canada,” he said. “It seems that every time Mr. Hoekstra opens his mouth, the Canadians are more determined than before to stand up to the bullying of the Trump administration.”
Mr Hoekstra is deeply polarising in Canada. Speaking to a Michigan radio station last year, he called Mr Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st US state a “sign of affection” and questioned why Canadians were offended by what he called a “generous offer”. He had previously described Canada’s 2025 federal election as “anti-American”. A House of Commons petition, e-7531, sponsored by Green MP Elizabeth May, asks the government to declare him persona non grata, saying his statements breached the ban on diplomats interfering in a host country’s affairs.
On 23 October, Mr Trump said Canada was working hard for a new trade deal and that Washington held the stronger position. Mr Carney said he was willing to resume talks immediately if the US approached in good faith, but would wait months, or until a future administration, rather than accept a poor deal.
