Petition to Expel Hoekstra from Canada Tops 29,000 Signatures

A House of Commons petition calling for the removal of US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has collected more than 29,000 signatures, with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May planning to present it in Parliament this fall.

Petition e-7531, launched by Calgary resident Leanne Walker on July 21, accuses Hoekstra of “making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol” and of normalizing the Trump administration’s threats to annex Canada. It asks the government to formally declare him persona non grata, raise his conduct with Washington under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and direct a parliamentary committee to review US diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs. It remains open for signatures until November 18.

The annexation claim traces to Hoekstra’s musing this summer that a potential Canadian annexation would be worth discussing between Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump. He has separately drawn criticism for telling a Halifax crowd last September that he found the tone of Canada’s federal election campaign hostile toward the United States, and for calling Canadian leaders’ description of the tariff dispute as a trade war dangerous.

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The petition also cites Hoekstra’s alleged connection to a Michigan-built voter-identification app used by Alberta independence organizers, a link he has denied any knowledge of.

Read: US Ambassador Endorsed App at Center of Alberta Voter Data Breach, New Report Reveals

Hoekstra has said his job is to “present the president’s views.” A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Ottawa said the embassy is aware of the petition but declined further comment.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a government can declare a diplomat persona non grata, stripping their immunity and requiring them to leave the country. Canada invoked it in 2023 against Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, accused of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family, and again in 2024 in expelling six Indian diplomats linked to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

Both cases followed specific intelligence findings, a different bar than a citizen-initiated House of Commons petition, which carries no obligation for the government or any MP to act on it.