OMM Newsroom
The US Embassy in Ottawa has accused Canadian officials of trying to influence American politics ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to the BBC.
In a fact sheet released on Wednesday, the embassy said Canadian leaders had dismissed concerns about “potential interference” while ministers and premiers “openly describe plans to influence American politics in official documents and public appearances”.
The document cited meetings with US Democrats and calls for retaliatory tariffs. It said Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, when asked what she expected on tariffs if Democrats won the midterms, replied: “That’s exactly why I’m meeting so many governors and potential presidential candidates.”
It also said Ontario Premier Doug Ford had urged Canada’s federal government to consider additional tariffs on imports from “politically significant states to the current administration’s base of support”.
Carney rejected the allegations on Wednesday, saying the US had initiated trade actions against Canada. “We’ve responded to those to protect Canadian jobs, to protect Canadian companies and develop our economy,” he said.
He added that the government’s response was “in the interests of Canadian workers, Canadian families and the future of this economy”. Carney was announcing an aid package worth nearly C$9bn ($6.2bn) in response to US tariffs, alongside Joly and Ford.
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,” he said, adding that he would focus on Ontario and Canada. “The people of the United States will make that determination in the midterms,” he said.
Last week, Joly denied Canadian interference and said Canadians “never accept that also being done to us in Canada”, CBC reported. She said her recent visits to the US were intended “to attract investments” from American companies and that she planned to continue them.
Washington and Ottawa have been in dispute for months over tariffs, trade that had previously flowed freely across their borders, and the effects of Canada’s countermeasures.
Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra warned that US officials were “closely watching” Canadian politicians for signs of election interference.
US administration officials have also been accused of making inappropriate remarks this week about a separation referendum in Alberta. A petition calling for Hoekstra to be removed from his post for “undermining the Canada-US diplomatic relations” has received more than 280,000 signatures.
The midterm elections will determine which party controls both chambers of the US Congress, a result that could significantly affect the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidency.
