U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has told Canadians to "keep your nose out of American politics" and warned that the U.S. is monitoring Canada for possible interference in its midterm elections.
What prompted this warning? Ontario ran an advertisement featuring Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs, and Canadian officials discussed imposing retaliatory tariffs on politically sensitive American states.
The Ontario ad didn't mention Donald Trump or endorse a candidate. It was meant to influence American opinion on trade policy, but Hoekstra considers it political interference.
If that's his definition of interference, it's worth looking at what the United States has been doing in other countries.
Argentina (2025): Trump tied continued U.S. financial support to the electoral success of Javier Milei's political movement.
Honduras (2025): Trump endorsed presidential candidate Nasry Asfura and warned that U.S. financial assistance could be withdrawn if he lost.
Poland (2025): Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly supported presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki shortly before the election.
Brazil (2025): Trump imposed tariffs and sanctions connected to the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, putting economic pressure on Brazil over its own judicial proceedings.
Venezuela (2019): The Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and demanded that Nicolas Maduro step aside.
All five examples involve direct U.S. involvement in another country's political affairs. Some involved explicit support for candidates or financial pressure tied to election results. That's considerably more direct than Ontario broadcasting Ronald Reagan's criticism of tariffs.
There's another issue here: Hoekstra's responsibilities as an ambassador.
Article 3 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations identifies promoting friendly relations between countries as one of an ambassador's duties.
Of course, ambassadors are expected to represent their governments and defend their country's interests. Nobody disputes that. But telling Canadians to "keep your nose out" of American politics, while warning that the U.S. may retaliate, hardly seems conducive to maintaining a constructive relationship between two neighbouring countries.
Canadians have taken notice. A parliamentary petition calling for Hoekstra to be declared persona non grata has reportedly attracted around 276,000 signatures.
Under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, Canada has the authority to declare an ambassador persona non grata without providing an explanation. The petition is a request from Canadians, not a decision by the Canadian government.
Hoekstra has every right to raise concerns about foreign interference. But surely the standard should be consistent.
If an Ontario advertisement criticizing tariffs can be considered election interference, what does that make an American president endorsing candidates in foreign elections, threatening to withhold financial assistance if they lose, or using economic pressure to influence another country's domestic affairs?
And if part of an ambassador's job is to promote friendly relations, it's fair to ask whether Hoekstra's public statements are helping or harming the relationship between Canada and the United States.
(...with a little help from Grok and ChatGPT)
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra (
@USAmbCanada) spoke to The Really Big Show about political interference in U.S. elections.