Joly, Ford, Housefather among Canadians named in U.S. embassy ‘fact sheet’ alleging election interference

The “fact sheet” published by U.S. Embassy in Ottawa listing quotes from Canadian politicians that it claims “openly describe plans to influence American politics” has been labelled “not credible at all” by a professor of political science at University of Toronto.

“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, published Wednesday, reads.

It comes after U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said America is “closely watching Canadian activities” for election interference in a podcast appearance on Oct. 13, referencing comments from Canada’s Industry Minister, ⁠Mélanie Joly, about retaliatory tariffs.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Canadian diplomats working in the U.S. have been directed to stay away from candidates running in the midterm elections to avoid allegations by the Trump administration of political interference.

People familiar with the matter, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity, said that an internal memo distributed Tuesday barred Canadian officials from meeting with or even being in the same room as midterm candidates unless given special permission.

Among the “facts” set out in the U.S. embassy document are four previous comments made by Joly as well as actions taken by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and Canadian Consul General in Boston Bernadette Jordan.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa has just issued a fact sheet accusing Canadian politicians of trying to influence American politics. It ends with a rather pointed warning: "Americans decide America’s elections." pic.twitter.com/q5Y72MJMiP

— Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) October 21, 2026

These include Joly saying that Canada’s counter-tariffs are “targeting products that will target states in the U.S.” in order to “put political pressure” at a news conference in August, as well as Ford’s  August letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney calling for additional retaliatory tariffs on imports from “politically significant states to the current administration’s base of support.”

Some of the instances listed date back to early 2025, including anti-tariff campaigns launched by both Ford and the federal government, and two comments from Joly when she was Foreign Affairs Minister.

Joly hit back at the embassy’s claims while speaking to CBC on Thursday. “Indeed I met with Democrats in the U.S., but I met with Republicans (too), which the American embassy failed to present,” she said.

“I went to Boston and I met with Democrats, and in the same meeting, there was a Republican state senator. At the same time, I went to Florida (and) I met with Republican state senators…That is diplomacy. That’s what we do.”

The document also lists 11 Canadians who it says have been charged or sentenced for illegal voting in general elections and primaries in the U.S. held between 2012 and 2024.

“Canada has the second highest total of prosecutions (in the U.S.) for fraudulent or illegal voting of any country,” it claims.

National Post contacted the Office of the Prime Minister for comment, and was directed to a news conference Carney held with Ford on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.

“The United States initiated a series of trade actions. We’ve responded to those to protect Canadian jobs, to protect Canadian companies and develop our economy,” Carney said when asked by reporters if the government’s previous actions were an attempt to influence American voters.

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

Meanwhile, Ford said he has “no interest at all interfering in American 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,” he said.

Joly was also at the news conference but did not comment on the U.S. embassy document.

Global Affairs Canada did not didn’t immediately provide a comment in response to a request from National Post.

Randy Besco, professor of political science at University of Toronto, told National Post that the U.S. embassy’s claims of election interference are “not credible at all.”

“The things that the statement cited are lists of the Canadian government trying to influence American government policy. They’re trying to convince them to remove the tariffs, mostly. That’s not what most people mean by election interference.”

Besco explained that election interference involves trying to get a particular person elected, or to have someone lose an election. The laws around foreign interference mostly involve spending money on influencing the outcome, he said.

The only possible exception on the embassy list, Besco adds, is the mention of Liberal MP Anthony Housefather campaigning for U.S. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida in August, during her primary campaign.

“It’s not against the law,” he clarified, “but it was probably ill-advised.”

#BREAKING: Liberal MP Anthony Housefather was seen in Florida campaigning on behalf of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat US Congresswoman who won her primary in the state's 20th Congressional District on Tuesday night. pic.twitter.com/1XvaTv8hcO

— Canada Proud (@WeAreCanProud) August 19, 2026

Americans will head to the polls on Nov. 3 for midterm elections that are expected to give Democrats a House majority. They also need to gain four more seats to win back the Senate.

“It’s certainly the case that the administration will probably latch onto any sort of external cause to blame bad election results,” said Alfredo Carrillo Obregon, a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington. “But I just don’t see (Canada) becoming the primary explanation or the primary narrative coming out of the White House.”

Meanwhile, Christopher Hernandez-Roy, acting director and senior fellow at the Americas Program of CSIS in Washington, said: “I think President Trump lashing out in the face of a loss is…almost a certainty. They can…try to blame Canada, but…I don’t see how that’s really gonna get much traction.”

Nevertheless, he argued that even if Trump and other MAGA Republicans can’t make Canada their scapegoat, the country may still need to brace itself.

“I would expect the next four, five, six months to be rather difficult for Canada,” he said.

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