A former U.S. ambassador to Canada is taking a strikingly different approach to cross-border relations than the current diplomat in office, as the trade war between the two countries continues to escalate.
Bruce Heyman, who served as ambassador to Canada under U.S. president Barack Obama between 2014 and 2017, has been increasingly vocal in his support for Canada. In contrast, current U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has offended some Canadians to the point that a parliamentary petition calling for his removal has gathered more than 260,000 signatures.
Both Midwesterners, Heyman grew up in Ohio and served as a managing director of private wealth management at Goldman Sachs before Obama appointed him as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Hoekstra spent most of his childhood in Michigan and is a long-serving Republican, first as a member of Congress representing Michigan’s 2nd District from 1993 to 2011.
Ohio and Michigan are among the states most affected by the Canada-U.S. trade war. Last year, 38 per cent of all exports from Michigan and 32 per cent from Ohio went to Canada , according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), with motor vehicles and parts both states’ top northbound exports.
Bought a new hat today. pic.twitter.com/rYBetn0bJy
— Bruce A. Heyman (@BruceAHeyman) September 1, 2026
In a series of recent posts on X, Heyman has been emphatic in his support for Canada, writing “never underestimate a Canadian,” “this American is proudly pro-Canadian,” and “love you, Canada.”
He also shared a photo of himself wearing a hat with “Lake Ontario” stitched on the front, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the body of water “Lake America,” and on Wednesday claimed that he’d previously been told by senior U.S. military officers that “if they were ever stuck in a foxhole under fire and they couldn’t have an American at their side they would undoubtedly want a Canadian.”
Since leaving the role of U.S. ambassador to Canada in 2017, Heyman co-founded the company Uncharted with his wife, Vicki Heyman, which connects Canadians and Americans to create a positive impact across the Canada-U.S. relationship, political engagement and philanthropy.
Heyman’s vocal support for Canada is likely good for his business. But regardless of the motivation, his public posture stands in stark contrast to that of Hoekstra, who took on the role of U.S. ambassador to Canada in April 2025.
This American is proudly pro-Canadian. 🇺🇸❤️🇨🇦
— Bruce A. Heyman (@BruceAHeyman) August 23, 2026
Among the objectionable comments Hoekstra has made about Canada are his bafflement at why Canadians are angry about “51st state” comments , suggesting Canada’s response to Trump’s actions has been “nasty and mean,” and reportedly aiming an expletive-laden rant at Ontario’s trade representative .
He also reiterated Trump’s claim that the U.S. “does not need Canada” during a radio interview in Montreal, and suggested that the U.S. president’s “51st state” comments could be taken as a “term of endearment.”
More recently, Hoekstra claimed that Canada paying to construct the Gordie Howe International Bridge was a “big myth,” a comment that former prime minister Stephen Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, branded a “punch in the face.”
The petition calling for his removal accuses the ambassador of undermining Canada-U.S. diplomatic relations and normalizing “51st state” language, and is sponsored by Green Party MP Elizabeth May.
That said, the stark difference between the two ambassadors isn’t explained by personal politics alone.
— Ambassador Pete Hoekstra (@USAmbCanada) June 2, 2026
Heyman, whose current business relies on maintaining a positive relationship with Canada, served under Obama, whose administration committed to forming stronger trade ties with Canada through instructing aides to make it easier for goods and people to move between the two nations, and looking to solve a dispute over exports of Canadian softwood lumber.
Hoekstra, meanwhile, represents Trump during a dramatically different period in the bilateral relationship, characterized by tariffs and the trade war. The fallout has caused Canadians’ views of America to become increasingly negative, with a recent Angus Reid poll finding that 45 per cent of Canadians say their views on Americans are unfavourable or very unfavourable .
And it’s not just Canada that Hoekstra has had a fractured relationship with. During his time as ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump’s first term, he was forced to apologize after making false claims that the “Islamic movement” in Europe was creating “no-go zones” and burning politicians.
Meanwhile, it would be wrong to suggest that Heyman didn’t have to navigate policy differences between Canada and the U.S. during his time as ambassador. Most notable was the Keystone XL pipeline, for which Obama denied the cross-border permit in 2015, stating the project did not serve U.S. national interests .
Heyman later wrote in a book he co-authored with his wife, Vicki, that disagreements between former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government and the Obama administration over the pipeline briefly led to an “ice age in relations.”
And yet, Heyman’s pro-Canada stance has extended beyond his time in office. After Trump first imposed tariffs in March 2025, he said in an interview on CNTV that Canada had “been there for (the U.S.) in thick and thin” and that the tariffs “shouldn’t happen.”
“I just think Donald Trump must have some other issue here, and those issues are either personal with Canada, or … personally think he’s short cash,” Heyman added.
He also called the tariffs “deeply offensive to the Canadians,” and said: “I would just say to the Canadian public, there are millions of Americans that value this relationship.”
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