US accuses Canada of election meddling
The US has accused Canadian officials of attempting to interfere in American elections, citing politically targeted trade measures and meetings with Democrats ahead of next month's midterms.
In a fact sheet published on Wednesday, the US Embassy in Ottawa accused Prime Minister Mark Carney's government of openly seeking to influence American politics. The embassy specifically pointed to Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly's remarks about deliberately targeting Republican-leaning states with retaliatory tariffs in response to President Donald Trump's trade policies.
Specific Canadian Actions
Washington also questioned Joly's meetings with Democratic officials in Boston and Chicago in September, as well as an anti-tariff advertising campaign by Ontario Premier Doug Ford featuring former President Ronald Reagan. The embassy highlighted Canadian Consul General Bernadette Jordan's appearance with two Democratic congressmen at a Vermont roundtable on trade tensions.
The document cited a Canadian government billboard campaign targeting 12 mostly Republican-voting states and Washington, DC, as well as Liberal lawmaker Anthony Housefather's campaigning for Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida. It also listed 11 Canadians charged or sentenced in 2026 for illegally voting in previous American elections.
Canadian Response
Ottawa has rejected the allegations. Carney insisted that Canada's measures were intended to protect its workers and businesses from American tariffs, while Ford denied any interest in meddling in US elections. Joly defended her meetings as normal diplomacy, noting she had engaged with both Republicans and Democrats.
The accusations followed a warning from US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, who said Washington was closely monitoring Canadian political activities ahead of the November 3 congressional elections. The dispute comes amid deteriorating relations between the neighboring countries, driven by Trump's sweeping tariffs and suggestions that Canada should become America's 51st state.
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