‘I hope he’s feeling better,’ Paterson says of U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra after altercation over anti-tariff ad

Ontario's representative in Washington David Paterson and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra are seen in this combination photo.

Ontario’s representative in Washington says he’s signed his Christmas card to U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, and hopes the two are moving forward after an altercation last month.

“I’ve met Ambassador Hoekstra several times, I actually kind of like the guy,” David Paterson told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday. “He’s different.”

“I’ve had people use salty language with me before, I don’t get too upset about it,” he added. “I don’t say anything back, as I say, my mom taught me better.”

As the trade war between the two countries drags on, Canada-U.S. talks are still on pause after the government of Ontario aired its anti-tariff ad in the U.S. last month, which angered U.S. President Donald Trump and led to him terminating negotiations.

In the aftermath of the ad, two sources in the Ontario government told CTV News at the time there was an “unpleasant exchange” between Hoekstra and Paterson at an event, during which the ambassador hurled “insults, and swore.”

Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney’s apology to Trump for the ad shortly afterward, Hoekstra referred to it in an armchair discussion this week, again labelling it political interference, and seemingly referencing his reported altercation with Paterson over the issue.

“I was kind of passionate earlier this month about, you know, that the deal got blown up,” Hoekstra told the 2025 National Manufacturing Conference in Ottawa on Wednesday. “Because, you know, the strategy was to put wins on the board for both countries.”

Speaking to Kapelos, Paterson said Hoekstra has not apologized, but that he doesn’t expect him to.

“I did see that there were a couple of additional events that he was at up in Canada, where … things seemed a little happier, and that’s a good thing,” Paterson said. “I’m pleased for that, and let’s just say I signed my Christmas card to him yesterday, so I hope he’s feeling better.”

The Ontario envoy to Washington added that in his experience, Canadian delegations and representatives are welcomed when speaking with American officials, including at the White House, in the U.S. Congress and with industry stakeholders.

“I think we sometimes, in our bubble in Canada, can get a little bit worried and focused on those kinds of things,” Paterson said.

“But I’ll tell you the secret down here in Washington: nobody’s heard about that event,” he added, referencing the gathering at which Hoekstra swore at him. “Frankly, I wonder how many people down here know the name of our ambassador to Canada.”

While Paterson categorized the interaction as “a surprising sort of explosion in a room of 200 people,” he also pointed to comments coming out of Washington at the time, expressing “frustration in terms of how trade discussions were going” as a possible cause for the altercation.

“The ad is a bit of a conversation piece,” he said. “But, you know, it’s hard not to think about some of the social media things that came from the president during our election, I think even on election day. And certainly, advertising in the United States is nothing new for countries around the world.”

“I think what’s really important is getting on with the discussions on trade,” he also said. “We want our ambassadors to be a really important part of that, and so hopefully we can turn the corner.”

Prior to Ontario’s anti-tariff ad, Carney told reporters that trade talks with the U.S. “had been making progress” for affected sectors like steel and aluminum.

When asked about the future of negotiations, Paterson told Kapelos he thinks “the economy will get the two parties back to the table.”

You can watch David Paterson’s full interview on CTV Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET

With files from CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos and Stephanie Ha