OTTAWA -- Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country. The online petition, which is set to be presented in the House of Commons in the fall, says Pete Hoekstra should be declared persona non grata and the Canadian government should request his removal as U.S. ambassador to Canada. As of Wednesday morning, more than 56,000 people had signed their names in support. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of “making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.” It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs. The petition, which was launched by a woman from Calgary, will be presented in Parliament by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. Members of Parliament can table petitions in the House of Commons without endorsing their contents. The petition also says Hoekstra has normalized the Trump administration’s threats to annex Canada. Hoekstra made headlines earlier this summer when he said Canada’s annexation by the United States would be a “great discussion” for Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Trump to have. Hoekstra told a crowd in Halifax last September that he was disappointed and frustrated by the “anti-American” tone in the most recent federal election campaign. He said it was dangerous for Canadian political leaders to describe the Trump administration’s tariff campaign as a trade war. He has repeatedly criticized Canadian politicians for discouraging travel to the U.S. and for pulling American liquor off their shelves. Responding to reporters in Canada who have challenged his comments, Hoekstra said it’s his job to “present the president’s views.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the petition except to say the embassy is aware of it. A persona non grata declaration is a tool in the UN’s Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that allows a government to strip diplomatic immunity from an individual and force them to leave the country. Canada has expelled diplomats in the past -- most recently representatives of China and India over allegations of foreign interference. In 2023, the Canadian government declared Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei persona non grata after an intelligence report accused him of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong by gathering information about his family in Hong Kong. A year later, Canada expelled six diplomats and consular officials from India after the RCMP made a stunning public allegation that agents of the Indian government were involved a campaign targeting Canadian citizens. The police linked the campaign to the June 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. In July of this year, an indictment released by U.S. authorities alleged the infamous Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi ordered Nijjar’s assassination. Under Carney’s leadership, the federal government has worked to improve relations with both China and India. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2026. By Sarah Ritchie
