Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed a former Democratic political operative to a newly created senior position in his office, putting an American with extensive connections to Democratic politics near the center of his government as relations with the Trump administration deteriorate.
In mid-July, Carney appointed Maia Johnson chief operating officer of the Prime Minister’s Office, making her the first person to hold the newly created title. Johnson also serves as senior special adviser for “United States Stakeholder Strategy,” a position she took in February.
Her American citizenship raises questions about what classified Canadian government information she can access. Under Canadian security rules, citizenship and clearance requirements can affect access to highly classified material, although the supplied information does not establish precisely what clearance Johnson holds or what sensitive material she receives.
Her appointment as COO also was not accompanied by an announcement on the prime minister’s official website.
Johnson brings a lengthy history in Democratic politics.
During the 2016 presidential election, she served as director of scheduling for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Four years later, she worked for Hawkfish, Michael Bloomberg’s political consulting operation, and provided strategic consulting services to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign from August through December 2020.
Johnson later worked for Bloomberg LP. Federal Election Commission records cited in the supplied material do not show campaign expenditures connected to her during the 2024 election, although she contributed through ActBlue.
Her Bloomberg connections also overlap with Carney’s previous international climate work.
Beginning in 2019, Carney served as the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance following his terms as governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. He subsequently co-chaired the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, or GFANZ, which Bloomberg co-founded and now chairs. Johnson provided research and support to Carney during that work.
The connections extend further into Democratic political circles.
Gerald Butts, the former senior adviser to Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, currently works as a senior adviser at Eurasia Group, as does Carney’s wife, Diana Fox Carney. Public records cited in the supplied material show that Eurasia Group received Canadian government consulting contracts between 2011 and 2024.
Butts and Carney also have ties to John Podesta, the longtime Democratic operative who served as Bill Clinton’s White House chief of staff, chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and later held climate-related positions in the Biden administration.
Canada 2020 events have provided another point of contact over the years. Hillary Clinton appeared at one of the organization’s conferences in 2014, while Barack Obama appeared at a 2017 event. Obama returned to Toronto for a Canada 2020 gala this year.
The supplied account also says Podesta helped arrange a private May meeting involving Carney, Obama and Alex Soros, followed weeks later by another gathering in Nova Scotia involving Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, Soros, Huma Abedin and Canadian business figures.
Those relationships are attracting additional attention because Washington and Ottawa are simultaneously engaged in a serious trade dispute.
On July 1, U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer formally notified Canada and Mexico that Washington would not agree to renew the USMCA in its existing form, beginning a review of the trade agreement.
Negotiations with Canada subsequently broke down.
Carney has since characterized the situation as being “at war” with the United States after negotiations with Greer were suspended. Carney said Canada could neither accept Washington’s offer nor provide what American negotiators demanded.
Greer offered a different account, accusing Canadian negotiators of introducing “new demands and walk backs of other commitments” near the end of negotiations.
President Donald Trump escalated matters Monday by announcing a 50 percent tariff on Canadian cars, trucks and steel beginning Jan. 1, responding to Canadian duties affecting American agricultural products.
“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, arguing that the trading relationship had become unsustainable.
