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The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa is accusing the federal government and other leaders of political meddling with less than two weeks before midterm elections south of the border.

On Wednesday, the embassy headed by Ambassador Pete Hoekstra suggested an itemized fact sheet of statements made by Industry Minister Melanie Joly, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and others is proof that Canada is trying to influence U.S. citizens ahead of the Nov. 3 vote.

“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,” embassy officials said .

Election interference is generally understood to mean deliberate actions aimed at influencing voters with malign intentions.

Joly met with Democratic officials

Officials listed September meetings Joly had with U.S. Democratic officials in Boston and Chicago as one of three examples of political meddling in the last two years.

Joly was asked about tariffs and what she expected if Democrats were to win the midterm elections.

“That’s exactly why I’m meeting so many governors and potential presidential candidates,” she said, according to a La Presse Canadienne article published by the French-language outlet En Beauce .

Ford was mentioned twice in the fact sheet with embassy officials citing his August letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney that pushed the federal government to consider additional retaliatory tariffs on imports from “politically significant states to the current administration’s base of support.”

New this morning Premier Doug Ford's office is sharing a letter sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney this past Monday, urging him to leverage energy and minerals if a deal couldn't be reached, and target key states pic.twitter.com/X5IkrNhbjw

— Siobhan Morris (@siomoCTV) August 22, 2026

Other examples of what embassy officials said were politically motivated election meddling included Liberal MP Anthony Housefather campaigning in Florida in August on behalf of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ahead of her Democratic primary; Canadian Consul General Bernadette Jordan appearing with Democratic Reps. Becca Balint of Vermont and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts at a Vermont roundtable on trade tensions and the impact of tariffs last week; and the Canadian government’s anti-tariff U.S. billboard campaign launched in March 2025 and aimed at “informing Americans” in 12 mostly Republican-voting states and Washington, D.C.

Canadians accused of illegal voting

Officials also said that as of this year at least 11 Canadians had been charged or sentenced for illegal voting in general elections and primaries held from 2012 to 2024.

“All Canadians should refrain from attempting to participate in or influence U.S. elections in any way,” the fact sheet said. “Americans decide America’s elections.”

At an unrelated news conference on Wednesday in Ottawa, Carney and Ford were asked about the embassy’s statement and if they were trying to sway next month’s vote.

“The United States initiated a series of trade actions,” Carney said. “We’ve responded to those to protect Canadian jobs, to protect Canadian companies and develop our economy.

“All of our actions are in the interest of Canadian workers, Canadian families and the future of this economy.”

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Trying to ‘protect our economy’: Ford

Ford said he had “no interest” in interfering in U.S. elections.

“We’re going to focus on what we can do here in Ontario and in Canada to make sure we protect our economy, protect the people and protect communities,” Ford said.

Speaking last week with Canadian news podcast The Really Big Show about political interference in U.S. elections, Hoekstra said Canadians should keep their nose out of American politics.

“We are closely watching Canadian activities because it appears that some of this, from our perspective and the way that we view elections, could be inferred to be election interference,” the ambassador said, citing Ford’s political ads using late president Ronald Reagan’s words that aired last year in the U.S. against President Donald Trump and his administration’s use of tariffs.

“Never happened in America before. But Canada decided that they would test the waters and see how far they could go.”

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