Opinion | When it comes to the art of diplomacy, Pete Hoekstra is a space cadet - Toronto Star

Hoekstra is no diplomat. He's here to push Trumps agenda including his territorial expansionism plans.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra speaks during a fireside chat at the SpaceBound 2026 Conference in Gatineau, Que., on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. 

Barbara Yaffe is a former national columnist and longtime editor and reporter for newspapers across the Canada.

A perfect embodiment of the U.S. government behaviours likely to kneecap Republicans in Tuesday’s midterms, surprisingly, is right here in Canada — in the person of Donald Trump’s surly envoy.

On the same day last week that former president Bill Clinton’s stated that the U.S. has been treating Canada “like dirt,” U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra was at a Gatineau conference on space, yanking Canada’s chain by dissing its view that Trump’s trade war has contributed to a rupture in bilateral relations.

“From our perspective, No. 1, we’re not in a trade war,” Hoekstra told his listeners at a conference exploring investment opportunities in space. “We’re negotiating some tariffs, OK? From our perspective, we haven’t ruptured. We don’t view the relationship as ruptured.”

The ambassador would have you believe, since early 2025, Canada has misinterpreted every one of Trump’s assorted insults and accusations, including a threat to make Canada part of the U.S.

Premier Doug Ford is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney not to rush into a trade deal with embattled U.S. President Donald Trump.