Us Ambassador Softens Accusations Of Canadian Interference In Midterms

The U.S. apparently isn’t accusing Canada of interfering in its elections after all — at least not yet.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said in an interview released Friday that the embassy hadn’t made a conclusion about election interference despite releasing a fact sheet detailing what it said were “plans to influence American politics” by prominent Canadians.

Hoekstra said in a podcast interview taped Wednesday that comments he made about election interference, which drew a rebuttal from Prime Minister Mark Carney, were taken out of context.

The ambassador said in an interview with The Elevate Report that the activities detailed in the fact sheet, which included Industry Minister Mélanie Joly meeting with Democratic officials in Boston and Chicago to discuss tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, could be seen by some as potential interference.

“I’m saying someone could assume that or reach that conclusion,” Hoekstra said. “As an embassy, we hadn’t reached that conclusion. We hadn’t made a definitive statement or raised it as a possibility back to Washington and say, ‘Hey, there’s election interference going on.’"

He didn’t rule it out, either. “We continue to watch,” he said.

The comments apparently softening the allegations of interference were made Wednesday, the day that the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa released the fact sheet detailing the allegations, which also singled out activities by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Liberal Parliament member Anthony Housefather.

“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,” the document said.

Carney dismissed the allegations multiple times this week and joked about the American concerns, warning attendees at a rally that the Americans could mistake their efforts to reduce economic dependence on the U.S. as election interference. “They’re a little touchy down there.” At a press conference Friday, he suggested that the Americans were the ones meddling in Canadian elections.

The dispute comes amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors after Carney walked away from trade negotiations and vowed to curtail his country’s reliance on the U.S.