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Allegations of US interference in Quebec electionglobalnews.ca

As Quebec's election enters its final stretch, U.S. interference allegations prompted a CSIS contact and calls for from party leaders for transparency.

67 points•Teever•3 days ago•25 comments•
#quebec#allegations#interference#election#quebec election#final#enters#stretch

25 comments

norrsson3 days ago
This story is evolving rapidly as some evidence is showing up that it's the CAQ (the party currently in power) that first tried to push the existence of the DARC blog post to the journalists, then informed CSIS when they didn't report it since it seems to be just one blog post from a think tank, not a coordinated effort.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2287702/caq-scrs-ingere...

ilamont3 days ago
The report by Quebecor media quoted two unnamed sources from Fréchette’s government who said American government officials had attempted to negotiate tariffs with Quebec directly.

This incident aside, doesn't Quebec already have special rights within the confederation to manage certain international relationships? E.g. quasi-diplomatic General Delegation in Paris, Francophone offices overseas, certain aspects of immigration to Quebec?

TMWNN3 days ago
Correct on all counts. I don't know how much control Quebec City has over international[1] tariffs, however.

So the shocking allegations boil down to

* US attempt to talk to Quebec City about tariffs, and

* a US think tank publishing something in February 2026 about how the US might benefit from the (meaningful, longstanding, legal) Quebecois pro-sovereignist sentiment.

Meanwhile, no shortage of announced Canadian intentions, in the first Trump administration and during the current trade war, to "target the red states" with tariffs to influence US politics, and no shortage of self-hating American Redditors cheering this on because Trump = bad, so anything that other countries do against the US = good.

[1] I have to specify this, because Canada does not have internal free trade! In some ways, trade with the US is freer than intra-Canada trade. Yet more proof of how as Paul Krugman wrote, Canada is closer to the US than to itself <https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/eh/>.

ImPostingOnHN3 days ago
> Meanwhile, no shortage of announced Canadian intentions, in the first Trump administration and during the current trade war, to "target the red states" with tariffs to influence US politics, and no shortage of self-hating American Redditors cheering this on because Trump = bad, so anything that other countries do against the US = good.

Yes, meanwhile something completely different happens somewhere else. All sorts of different things are always happening all over the world. Luckily we don't see Canada trying to negotiate tariffs with individual states, or else the thing you mentioned might be similar to the situation we're discussing.

Also, as an aside, it's rude to dismiss the majority of Americans, who overwhelmingly oppose the harmful tariffs and the related government mismanagement of the economy, as "self-hating American Redditors". They likely love their country at least as much as those who favor destroying the economy and Americans' finances in the name of unprecedented partisan brinksmanship and power grabs.

snapplebobapple3 days ago
I wouldn't be surprised. That would be one of many failings of the Canadian constitution/government.
mlekoszek3 days ago
What else do you have?
bpodgursky3 days ago
Doesn't Canada have trade barriers literally between their own provinces? I'm not sure Canada has a lot of ground to stand on here, if provinces are arguing about trade between themselves. Why not negotiate independently? They are free agents.
estearum3 days ago
Isn't this referring to Quebec trying to negotiate with the US?

Which would be completely different from province-to-province negotiation, obviously.

slopinthebag3 days ago
she later came out and admitted it was basically made up as a desperate last attempt before the election. everyone in quebec is pissed at her lol

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2287644/frechette-inger...

declan_roberts3 days ago
Of course it was made up. From the perspective of both countries it makes zero sense.

But people love the headline. It's like catnip to them.

deodorel3 days ago
The us ambasador in Greece bragged at a party that they will take down the Romanian government because they opposed some gas pipeline or something which actually happened after a few months after she met the opposition party. She also menaced the greeks they could do the same to them
jleyank3 days ago
Similar arguments from Alberta re funding and assisting separatist movements to peel the province away from Canada. Small things are easier to digest.

Read the full thread on Hacker News →

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