The US Accuses Canada of Meddling in Its Midterms. Its State Department Was Reported Meeting Alberta’s Separatists.
Washington says Canadian politicians are interfering in the November 3 election. The evidence is thin, and the same administration has been reported meeting the people trying to break up Canada.
By Mike Dean,
By Daily Rumble | October 22, 2026
The US embassy in Canada released a fact sheet on Wednesday accusing Canadian politicians of trying to influence the November 3 midterms, Al Jazeera reported. Its examples include an industry minister’s meetings with Democratic officials, an Ontario ad campaign that used Ronald Reagan clips, and 11 individual Canadians who were charged or sentenced for illegally voting in US elections between 2012 and 2024. Al Jazeera notes the embassy did not explain how any of that amounts to interference, and offered no evidence tying the 11 people to a Canadian government effort. The fact sheet’s own line was blunt: “Americans decide America’s elections.” The same week, the administration that wrote it was still dealing with reports that its officials sat down with the movement that wanted Alberta out of Canada.
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Step back and look at the sequence. In January, the Financial Times reported that State Department officials had met leaders of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group pushing for a vote on Alberta leaving Canada. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta “a natural partner for the US.” On Monday, Alberta voters rejected the separatist path by about three to one. Two days later, the embassy accused Canada of meddling.
That sequence forces a question: who gets to define interference? If a Canadian minister meeting governors counts, what do reported meetings with a secessionist group count as?
What the embassy actually put on the table
The accusation did not start with the fact sheet. US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said on a podcast called The Really Big Show, reported on Oct. 14 by BNN Bloomberg, that “we are monitoring it” and “we are evaluating it,” and that “America will respond to it.” He did not say how.
His targets were specific. He cited Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who has said Canada was targeting products from US states to “put political pressure” on Washington. He cited an Ontario ad campaign from last year, which used Reagan speaking against tariffs and, according to the Canadian Press, led Trump to end trade talks in October 2025. He also cited former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told a Brown University audience on Sept. 22: “There is a pattern here of doing things that are driving up prices for your consumers.”
Joly rejected the charge on Oct. 14. Canada, she said, would “never engage in election interference” and would “never accept that also being done to us in Canada.” She said her trips were about attracting investment. Erin O’Toole, a former Conservative leader, told BNN Bloomberg that Canada’s tariffs respond to US foreign policy decisions and are not interference. The Canadian Press, in its own report, said Hoekstra offered no specific evidence of interference.
Peter Navarro, a Trump trade adviser, went further in September at a Washington summit. He told Canadians lobbying the US government to “get the hell out of our country” and warned that “if you interfere in our elections in Maine or Michigan, you will pay even more dearly.” Lobbying and advocacy are the ordinary business of every embassy in Washington. Foreign governments do it daily, including Washington’s closest allies.
The other file: Alberta
Now put the Alberta record next to it. Al Jazeera reported in January, citing the Financial Times, that Alberta Prosperity Project leaders met State Department officials in Washington at least three times since April 2025. White House and State Department officials told the FT that administration officials regularly meet civil society groups and that no support or commitments were conveyed. Al Jazeera added that group leader Jeffrey Rath said the group was seeking another meeting with Treasury officials about a possible $500 billion credit line for an independent Alberta. No referendum had been called at that point, and the credit line is a reported plan, not a confirmed one.
British Columbia Premier David Eby called the reported meetings “treason.” Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “I expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty.”
The Canadian Press, in its Oct. 15 report, added another layer. It cited the Globe and Mail as reporting that Republican political operatives were in Alberta earlier this year to help the separatist campaign, and that some separatists lobbied in Washington for US support. The Canadian Press said it had not independently verified that. We have not either. It belongs in the file as an open allegation, not a finding.
Then there is Trump himself. At a rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, on Oct. 14, the Canadian Press reported, he repeated that Canada would become the 51st state because “that’s the only way it works.” Elon Musk, a prominent Trump supporter, posted that Alberta “should separate,” Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday. Al Jazeera notes there was no official administration statement on the result.
What’s actually happening beneath the surface
A government that treats foreign advocacy as an attack on its elections is claiming a very large definition of interference. The standard Hoekstra described covers a Canadian minister explaining a trade position to American governors. It covers a province buying airtime to argue against tariffs, an act that happens in American politics every week.
The standard has a convenient feature. It applies to Canada and not to Washington. Under it, Ottawa’s advocacy is a threat, while the reported contacts between US officials and a group seeking to dissolve a neighbor’s territory are “routine meetings.” Both can be examined on the facts. Only one of them has produced a fact sheet.
There is also the timing. The midterms are 12 days away, and the Canadian Press noted that polls suggest Democrats could win both chambers. A foreign villain is a useful message when a campaign needs a story about who might be cheating. Naming an outside force before it has been shown to do anything is cheap, and it is hard to disprove.
None of this means Canada’s politicians have been quiet. They have said openly that they are pushing back on US tariffs and talking to US officials. That is diplomacy. If Washington wants to draw a line, it should draw it publicly, with evidence, and apply it to itself.
What to watch
First, whether the embassy or Hoekstra says what “respond” means. Tariffs or sanctions on individual Canadians would turn a talking point into policy. Second, whether Congress or any inspector general asks what State Department officials discussed with the Alberta Prosperity Project, since the department’s own account is “no commitments.” Third, whether Rath follows through on his vow that the push will “absolutely” continue, and who answers his calls in Washington.
Albertans just told the world, at about 76 percent in preliminary results, that they want to stay in Canada. Washington says it is defending its own elections from outside influence, and that is a fair thing to defend. But a government that wants to be believed about interference has to hold itself to the rule it writes for everyone else.
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Sources:
Al Jazeera — US accuses Canada of election interference ahead of midterms — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/21/us-accuses-canada-of-election-interference-ahead-of-midterms
BNN Bloomberg — US ambassador warns Canadian politicians: keep your nose out of American politics — https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/politics/2026/10/14/us-ambassador-warns-canadian-politicians-keep-your-nose-out-of-american-politics/
Global News (Canadian Press) — Hoekstra says U.S. officials are watching Canada for signs of election interference — https://globalnews.ca/news/12103460/canada-midterms-interference-hoekstra/
Al Jazeera — Are Trump officials driving Alberta’s separatist movement in Canada? — https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/1/30/are-trump-officials-driving-albertas-separatist-movement-in-canada
Al Jazeera — Alberta voters reject separation from Canada, early results show — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/20/alberta-voters-reject-separation-from-canada-early-results-show
NBC News — Alberta rejects move toward independence from Canada in a victory for Carney — https://www.nbcnews.com/world/north-america/alberta-voters-reject-move-independence-canada-cbc-projects-rcna604527