Carney and Ford reject the claims as Ottawa announces tariff aid
On Wednesday, the US Embassy in Ottawa released a fact sheet accusing Canadian leaders of interference in the November midterms. The embassy said the Canadian government “brushes off concerns about potential interference in U.S. elections, even as its ministers and premiers openly describe plans to influence American politics in official documents and public appearances.” Canadian leaders, including Carney, dismissed the allegation.
The embassy said it was citing comments and actions such as meetings with US Democrats and calls for retaliatory tariffs. The fact sheet said Industry Minister Mélanie Joly was asked what she expected regarding tariffs if Democrats were to win the midterm elections. She responded, “That’s exactly why I’m meeting so many governors and potential presidential candidates.”
The US Embassy’s fact sheet also said Ford pushed Canada’s federal government to consider additional retaliatory tariffs on imports from states described as “politically significant states to the current administration’s base of support.” The embassy included that proposal among the actions it cited in its allegation.
Asked on Wednesday about the allegations, Carney said the US initiated the trade actions against Canada. “We’ve responded to those to protect Canadian jobs, to protect Canadian companies and develop our economy,” Carney said. He said his government’s response had been “in the interests of Canadian workers, Canadian families and the future of this economy.”
Carney made those remarks while announcing a nearly C$9bn ($6.2bn) aid package in response to US tariffs. Industry Minister Joly and Ontario Premier Ford accompanied him.
Ford said he had “no interest at all” in interfering in US elections. “I’ll tell you what the American people want. They want certainty, they want stability,” Ford said. He said he would focus on Ontario and Canada, adding, “The people of the United States will make that determination in the midterms.”
Last week, Joly denied Canadian interference and said Canadians “never accept that also being done to us in Canada,” according to CBC. She said her recent visits to the US were “to attract investments” from American companies, which she planned to continue.
The November midterms will determine which political party controls both branches of the US Congress, which could have a significant impact on the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency. That leaves the embassy allegation with potential consequences beyond the bilateral trade relationship.
Washington and Ottawa have argued for months over tariffs and trade, which once flowed freely across their borders, and the effects of Canada’s countermeasures. BBC News reported that relations between the North American neighbors had hardened during the second Trump administration. BBC News also carried an item headlined “Trump sued over Canadian tariffs in latest legal challenge.”
Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra warned that US officials were “closely watching” Canada’s politicians for signs of election interference. Trump administration officials also have been accused of making inappropriate remarks about the separation referendum in Alberta that week. Carney described the projected rejection of separatism in Alberta as “Great result for Canada.”
A petition calling for Hoekstra’s removal for “undermining the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relations” has received more than 280,000 signatures.
Earlier, MSI reported that Canada announced retaliatory tariffs after trade talks with Washington collapsed. The embassy allegation now cites meetings with US Democrats and proposed tariffs aimed at politically significant states, extending that earlier tariff confrontation into a dispute over alleged influence in the US midterms.