Petition to Expel Trump’s Ambassador From Canada Nears 218,000 Signatures as Trade Fight Escalates

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A parliamentary petition demanding the removal of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has become an unusually visible measure of Canadian frustration with Washington. The petition was approaching 218,000 signatures when the latest round of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations intensified on August 18, but the number has continued climbing: the House of Commons’ official portal now lists 226,051 validated signatures.

That surge comes as Ottawa and Washington race toward an August 19 tariff deadline involving billions of dollars in Canadian exports. Yet the campaign is about more than tariffs. It brings together anger over Donald Trump’s repeated “51st state” rhetoric, concerns about diplomatic involvement in Canadian politics and a broader deterioration in public confidence toward the United States.

The Petition Has Grown at an Extraordinary Pace

The speed of the petition’s growth is one reason it has become difficult for political leaders to dismiss as a small protest. It was opened for signatures on July 21 by Calgary resident Leanne Walker and authorized by Green Party MP Elizabeth May. ABC News reported more than 104,000 signatures by August 13. Two days later, the total had passed 171,000. CBS and the Associated Press put it near 218,000 on August 18, while the live House of Commons counter subsequently reached 226,051 validated signatures.

The geographic breakdown also shows that support is not confined to one region. Ontario accounted for 96,799 signatures at the latest count, while British Columbia contributed 46,245. Alberta, where the petitioner lives and where sovereignty politics have become increasingly contentious, accounted for 24,667. Quebec was close behind at 24,296. Every province and territory recorded signatures, including hundreds from the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Importantly, the House portal says only validated signatures are included in its published total.

Pete Hoekstra Arrived With Deep Ties to Trump’s Political Movement

Hoekstra is not a career foreign-service officer quietly serving out a diplomatic posting. He is a longtime Republican politician from Michigan and a prominent Trump ally. The U.S. Senate confirmed him as ambassador to Canada on April 9, 2025, by a vote of 60-37. Before the appointment, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and later represented the United States as ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump’s first administration. He also chaired the Michigan Republican Party before being nominated for Ottawa.

His confirmation hearing produced a moment that now stands in sharp contrast with the controversy surrounding him. Asked whether Canada was a sovereign state and whether it should be treated as such rather than joked about as a potential 51st state, Hoekstra answered affirmatively. He also spoke about the long history of cooperation between the neighbours. Since arriving in Canada, however, his outspoken defence of Trump administration policies has made him a far more visible and polarizing ambassador than Canadians traditionally encounter.

The Petition Targets More Than One Controversial Remark

The petition makes a series of accusations against Hoekstra rather than focusing exclusively on a single statement. It says he undermined bilateral relations by describing Canada’s 2025 federal election campaign as anti-American and accuses him of normalizing Trump’s repeated references to Canada becoming the 51st state. The petition also argues that the ambassador has intervened in Canadian political debates in ways its organizers believe are inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.

More sensitive allegations concern Alberta separatism. The petition cites reported links between Hoekstra and the people behind a Michigan-based voter-identification application that was later used by an Alberta separatist organization. ABC News reported that Hoekstra denied knowing the application was being used by separatists. The petition also points to meetings between members of the Alberta Prosperity Project and U.S. State Department officials. Those meetings have been independently reported, although Hoekstra has denied that the Trump administration was working with or strategizing alongside Alberta separatists. That distinction is important because several claims in the petition remain allegations rather than established findings of government misconduct.

“Persona Non Grata” Is a Real Diplomatic Power, Not Just Political Language

Declaring an ambassador persona non grata would carry consequences far beyond issuing a political rebuke. Canada is a party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which establishes the basic rules governing diplomats and embassies. Global Affairs Canada says the government can request that a sending country voluntarily recall a representative or formally declare that diplomat persona non grata. Canada does not have to publicly explain such a declaration to the country involved.

Canadian policy defines the reasonable period for recalling someone after such a notice as no more than 10 days. The authority ultimately sits with the executive branch rather than petition signatories or the House of Commons itself. Canada has used the mechanism before. In 2023, Ottawa declared Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei persona non grata after accusing him of involvement in foreign interference. Such decisions can also carry a cost: Global Affairs explicitly warns that another government may respond by expelling one of Canada’s diplomats in return. Removing an American ambassador would therefore be a major escalation in bilateral relations.

More Than 226,000 Signatures Still Do Not Make the Petition Binding

The impressive signature total does not mean Parliament is legally required to expel Hoekstra. Canada’s electronic-petition system sets a much lower threshold simply for a petition to qualify for the parliamentary process. An e-petition needs at least 500 valid signatures to be certified, meaning the Hoekstra petition has exceeded that threshold hundreds of times over. Electronic petitions may remain open for 30, 60, 90 or 120 days, depending on the period selected when they are created.

This petition is scheduled to remain open until November 18. Once the parliamentary process advances and the petition is formally presented, House rules require the federal government to provide a response within 45 calendar days. That guarantees an official answer; it does not guarantee the action demanded by the signatories. The distinction matters. Public petitions can force governments to acknowledge politically uncomfortable questions, but they do not replace executive authority. In this case, the government will eventually have to address a demand that has attracted an unusually large public following even if Ottawa chooses not to remove the ambassador.

The Petition Is Surging Just as the Trade Fight Reaches Another Deadline

Timing has dramatically increased the petition’s visibility. Canada faces another threatened round of U.S. tariffs beginning August 19. Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose additional tariffs of up to 50% on nearly US$20 billion worth of Canadian products. Reuters reported that affected goods include wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing equipment and hockey products. The targeted trade represents roughly 5.2% of the goods the United States imported from Canada in 2025.

The dispute is broader still. Canadian-built vehicles currently face a 25% U.S. national-security tariff, and negotiators have discussed reducing that rate to 15%. The remaining disagreement is highly consequential for Canada’s integrated auto industry. Washington wants deductions based primarily on U.S.-made content, while Canada has pushed for recognition of broader North American content, including Canadian and Mexican components. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have been meeting repeatedly as both governments search for an arrangement that could prevent another escalation.

Canada’s Economic Dependence Makes the Diplomatic Clash Harder to Manage

Few international disputes expose Canada’s economic vulnerability as clearly as a trade confrontation with the United States. Statistics Canada reported that 71.7% of Canadian merchandise exports went to the United States in 2025, down from 75.9% the previous year but still representing an enormous share of the country’s external trade. That dependence means tariffs can quickly become local economic stories involving factory shifts, small-business orders, investment plans and jobs rather than abstract arguments between politicians.

That reality complicates the Hoekstra debate. Expelling an ambassador could satisfy Canadians who believe Ottawa should answer aggressive rhetoric with a stronger assertion of sovereignty, but governments also rely on diplomatic channels precisely when relationships become difficult. Businesses affected by tariffs want access to decision-makers and predictable negotiating channels, not necessarily another diplomatic confrontation. Canada therefore faces two pressures at once: demonstrate that political interference or threats to sovereignty have limits while keeping enough communication open to manage a deeply integrated trading relationship. The petition captures the first pressure; the tariff negotiations make the second impossible to ignore.

Canadian Trust in the United States Has Fallen Sharply

The petition’s rapid growth is easier to understand against a much broader change in Canadian public opinion. Pew Research Center found that 83% of Canadians considered the United States a reliable partner in 2022. In its 2026 international polling, that figure had fallen to just 35%. Pew surveyed more than 42,000 adults across 36 countries between February and May, finding declining confidence in the United States across several longstanding allied countries.

For Canada, the numbers illustrate how political tension has moved beyond individual policy disputes. Tariffs can be removed, renegotiated or replaced, but attitudes toward an ally are harder to rebuild once voters begin questioning whether the relationship itself is dependable. Trump’s repeated comments about Canadian statehood have been particularly sensitive because they touch sovereignty rather than ordinary trade disagreements. Hoekstra’s role as the administration’s official representative consequently carries unusual symbolic weight. The petition may not represent every Canadian view, but more than 226,000 validated signatures arriving alongside such steep polling changes make it difficult to characterize the backlash as purely partisan or fleeting.

Ottawa Faces a Choice Between Symbolic Defiance and Diplomatic Practicality

There remains a considerable gap between a petition attracting hundreds of thousands of signatures and the Canadian government actually removing the U.S. ambassador. Prime Minister Mark Carney had already rejected the idea of expelling Hoekstra earlier in the dispute, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal. That position reflects a practical consideration: the ambassador represents the administration Canada must negotiate with on tariffs, autos, defence, energy, critical minerals and the future of CUSMA.

Still, refusing to expel Hoekstra does not make the petition politically irrelevant. Its organizers have already succeeded in turning diplomatic conduct into a mainstream public issue, while the petition’s continuing growth gives Parliament a highly visible measure of public anger. With signatures accepted until November 18, the final number could rise considerably further. Meanwhile, the more immediate test arrives at the negotiating table. Whether Washington proceeds with its latest tariffs—and whether Ottawa retaliates—could determine whether the petition eventually looks like a temporary expression of frustration or an early marker of a deeper change in how Canadians view their closest neighbour.

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