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U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says American officials are “closely watching” Canadian politicians for signs of election interference ahead of the pivotal midterms next month.
During an interview on The Really Big Show podcast posted last week, Hoekstra said political ads run by the province of Ontario last year could be interpreted as political interference.
U.S. President Donald Trump ended trade talks with Canada in October 2025 after Ontario aired an ad during the World Series using clips of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs and supporting free trade.
Hoekstra also cited recent comments by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and former prime minister Justin Trudeau and suggested they also could amount to interference.
Hoekstra warned Canadian politicians to keep their “nose out” of American politics in the weeks before the midterm elections.
Trudeau criticized the Trump administration during a discussion at Brown University on Sept. 22.
“There is a pattern here of doing things that are driving up prices for your consumers and not necessarily making anything better for America, by fighting with one of your oldest and best allies,” Trudeau said during the conversation.
In the interview, Hoekstra said Joly made comments about targeting retaliatory tariffs at “politically sensitive states.”
Joly pushed back on Wednesday, telling reporters that Canada would never engage in election interference and would “never accept that also being done to us in Canada.”
Joly said she has been to the U.S. in recent months and has met with Democrats and Republicans.
WATCH | Canada ‘absolutely not’ interfering in U.S. midterms, Joly says:
Canada ‘absolutely not’ interfering in U.S. midterms, Joly says
Asked about the United States Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra’s comments about watching for Canadian interference in the U.S. midterm elections, Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly says ‘we never do that and we never accept that also being done to us in Canada.’ She says her recent visits to the U.S. were ‘to attract investments’ by American companies and she will continue to do so.
“Fundamentally, what I’ve done in the U.S. is to attract investments,” she said. “I think I’ll be able to have good news of investments by different American companies to Canada. And that’s exactly what I’m doing and that will continue to be my strategy in the U.S. and also around the world.”
Hoekstra said if any actions by Canadians end up amounting to election interference, the United States will respond.
“We’re monitoring it, we’re evaluating it and if some of it becomes election interference then America will respond to it,” Hoekstra said.
The president has been actively campaigning in battleground states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The entire House of Representatives and one-third of U.S. Senate seats will be contested. Currently the Republicans hold a majority of seats in both, but polls suggest there is a chance that the Democrats wrest control of both chambers.
The Globe and Mail reported recently that Republican political operatives were on the ground in Alberta earlier this year to help the separatist campaign. CBC News previously reported that Alberta separatists also attended meetings in U.S. State Department offices in Washington, D.C., last year.
In August, Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered the Canadian negotiating team to call off renewed trade talks with the U.S. after accusing the Americans of making unreasonable demands.
WATCH | Trade war front and centre ahead of U.S. midterms:
Canada-U.S. trade war emerges as key issue ahead of U.S. midterms
The Canada-U.S. trade war is solidifying itself as a major ballot-box issue in pivotal states ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Detroit on Tuesday to make a case for tariff-free trade in the auto sector.
“We have a 200-year-old relationship. There’s always going to be grievances on both sides of the border,” he said on CNN.
“We have our grievances with the United States even predating this most recent trade dispute, but I would focus on what we can do together.”
Hoekstra’s comments come after one Trump’s trade advisers threatened repercussions for Canada if it “interferes” in the upcoming midterms.
Peter Navarro dismissed Canada’s approach to trade talks during an economic conference in Washington last month, saying that Canadian lobbyists need to “get the hell out of our country.”
“The problem you have is you lobby this country and you’ve been successful in the past and you think you can keep doing that,” Navarro said of Canada’s approach.
WATCH | Trump adviser warns Canada not to ‘interfere’ in U.S. midterms:
‘You will pay’: Trump adviser warns Canada not to ‘interfere’ with U.S. midterms
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned Canada not to ‘interfere’ with U.S. midterm elections in border states such as Maine and Michigan by lobbying against the Trump administration’s tariffs. Navarro said Canada would ‘pay even more dearly’ for doing so.
“Memo to Canada: You cannot do that. That game is up and if you interfere in our elections in Maine or Michigan you will pay even more dearly.”
The trade war has become a pressure point on Republican candidates running for the Senate in the two border states Navarro mentioned.
Just last week, the Republican candidate for Michigan’s open Senate seat released a new 30-second ad criticizing tariffs.
“Here in Michigan we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now,” Mike Rogers says in the ad.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has represented Maine since 1997, has also tried to distance herself from Trump’s tariffs.