The U.S. ambassador to Canada on Wednesday warned federal and provincial governments to “seriously consider” whether anti-tariff advertising in the United States will help achieve Canada’s goals, adding he thinks the ads amounted to trying to “participate in our electoral politics.”
Speaking at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters’ national conference in Ottawa, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra took aim at an Ontario government-funded ad campaign that aired in the U.S. last month and quoted former U.S. President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
The ad prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to suspend trade negotiations with Canada.
“As far as we can tell, it has never happened in America before,” Hoekstra said, saying Trump and his administration were right to be upset over the ad.
“If Canada wants to assert itself and create a new precedent that you’re going to participate in our electoral politics, through advertising targeting the president of the United States and his policies, I would suggest that you seriously consider whether that is the best way to try and achieve your objectives in the United States of America.”
Hoekstra noted the ad aired on American TV weeks before November’s elections in several states and the U.S. Supreme Court hearing over Trump’s tariff powers, which include the tariffs laid on Canada over fentanyl trafficking allegations.
The ambassador suggested the timing of the ad amounted to political interference.
“I’m sorry, that does not happen in the United States of America,” he told the crowd.
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“You do not come into America and start political ads and expect there to be no consequences or reaction from the United States of America and the Trump administration.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney last month apologized directly to Trump over the ad and has criticized the Ontario government’s decision to air it, saying it’s not what he would have done amid ongoing trade talks.
Those talks have yet to restart, however, despite Trump thanking Carney for his apology. Trump administration officials have suggested Canada had been “difficult” in the negotiations.
Asked Wednesday if he believes the talks can restart, Hoekstra said it was possible, “but it’s not going to be easy.”
“I’ll just get myself in trouble,” he then said, before going on to say he doesn’t understand why Canadians continue to be upset about Trump’s past repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state.
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t,” he said he’s told Canadians who have raised the issue with him.
He later poked fun at the worth of Canadian currency while discussing the Ontario ad.
“We’re talking about $54 million in ads. In American dollars. So real money,” he said, before quickly adding “that’s a joke” and “lighten up” as some in the crowd groaned.
Ontario’s original ad campaign was to cost $75 million and run through the winter. Now that it has been pulled, the cost to taxpayers is expected to be far less, but the government has not yet given a final tally.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has defended the ad and suggested it helped sway enough Republicans to vote for a U.S. Senate resolution against the tariffs on Canada.
“Because of that ad, the Republicans lost the vote,” Ford said in the Ontario legislature earlier this month. “Four Republicans … switched sides. They talked about the ad. It’s making a massive, massive difference.”
Ford last month called on Hoekstra to apologize to Ontario’s trade representative, David Paterson, after a report said the ambassador went on what was called an expletive-filled tirade over the ad.
B.C. Premier David Eby said early this month that his government would not go ahead with a digital ad campaign in the U.S. protesting softwood lumber tariffs after speaking with federal government officials.
“When the time comes to speak with the Americans, we will do it in partnership with the federal government,” Eby told reporters at the time. “We will not be running the ads by ourselves.”
—With files from Global’s Mackenzie Gray and Sean Previl, and the Canadian Press
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