LILLEY: Canada and U.S. trade election meddling charges

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It’s a bit rich for the Trump administration to complain about Canadian officials interfering in the American midterms.

American officials, past and present, have long enjoyed putting their fingers on the scales of Canadian democracy, normally to help the Liberal Party.

That includes the current occupant of the White House, who did more to elect Mark Carney than anyone in Canada.

At the same time, it’s a bit rich for Canadian officials to deny what they have openly stated they are trying to do: influence the American midterms.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa put out what it called a fact sheet, “Monitoring Canadian Activities in U.S. Politics.”

“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 read.

It then posted a series of actions and statements from Canadian elected officials about their intention to influence what is happening south of the border.

Ottawa’s red-state pressure campaign

“We’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that’s why we think it’s ‌the right thing to do right now,” Industry Minister Melanie Joly said in August.

She was speaking about the counter-tariffs Canada was imposing on the United States and how they were designed to hurt red states. Canadian politicians have been speaking openly about this since the trade spat with the U.S. began.

Canada’s strategy is to put political pressure on people in vulnerable races. It’s smart policy, but it could also be seen as election interference by the country on the receiving end.

A month later, Joly said she met with so many Democrats during a recent trip to the U.S. to try to persuade them on tariffs in the event the party takes the House or Senate in the midterms.

I mean, they aren’t even hiding it.

Doug Ford wants Trump to lose midterms

The embassy also had a number of statements from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, but not his most forceful ones. Ford has stated time and again that he wants Trump to lose in the midterms and even said he’d campaign if he had to.

“He needs to pay the price in the mid-terms. If I’ve got to go down there and knock on the doors myself, I will,” Ford said in March 2025.

Last month, Ford cheered the prospect of Republicans losing the midterms, then insisted he wasn’t interfering in the American election.

Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney were asked about the American comments during a news conference on Tuesday, and both played innocent.

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

“The people of the United States will make that determination in the midterms,” Ford said.

I’m sorry, I don’t believe them.

Both men and both of their governments have worked to put their fingers on the scales of American democracy.

Is this something the Americans can really complain about, though?

America’s selective memory

“I’d rather deal with a liberal than a conservative,” Donald Trump said when asked about Carney during our last election.

It’s not quite an endorsement, and even if it was, it wouldn’t help. But Trump did assist Carney in getting elected. Every time Trump took a swipe at Canada during the last campaign, support for the Conservatives dropped while support for the Liberals went up.

Trump isn’t above telling voters in other countries whom to vote for, having just endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli election. Nor is Trump the first president to tinker with elections in other countries.

“The world needs his progressive leadership now, and I hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term,” Barrack Obama said of Justin Trudeau in the 2019 election.

He also endorsed Trudeau during the 2021 campaign.

Back in the 1963 Canadian election, JFK put Lester Pearson’s Liberals in touch with their polling firm for advice. Meanwhile, the American embassy leaked anti-Diefenbaker stories to the Canadian media.

The Americans have a long history of interfering in Canadian democracy.

Caught with their hands in the jar

Right now, both countries look like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar while proclaiming their innocence.

Don’t believe either side.

blilley@postmedia.com

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