100,000 sign petition to declare US ambassador to Canada persona non grata
LONDON -- A petition to declare U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra "persona non grata" and have him removed from his post had received more than 104,000 signatures as of Thursday.
The petition was launched on Canada's parliamentary petitions portal, where citizens and residents of Canada can set up petitions to parliament.
As long as the petition gets five signatures and has a member of parliament (MP) attached who has agreed to present the petition, the government is required to submit a formal written response within 45 days.
The petition calling for Hoekstra's ouster was submitted by a Leanne Walker of Calgary and is sponsored by Green Party MP Elizabeth May.
It calls on the government to not only remove Hoekstra from his position, but also to raise with the U.S. "the pattern of conduct by Ambassador Hoekstra inconsistent with the Vienna convention on Diplomatic Relations."
Hoekstra is accused by the petitioner of normalizing President Donald Trump's administration's threats to annex Canada as the "51st state," with the ambassador having described such rhetoric as a "term of endearment."
Hoekstra has in the past shared Trump's posts referring to Canada as the 51st state. When asked in June if Canada was indeed an additional American state, said, "That's a great discussion for the president and the prime minister to have."
The petition also raises Hoekstra's links to an American voter ID app which has been used by the Alberta separatist movement to identify names and addresses of potential referendum supporters. Hoekstra has denied knowing the app was being used by the separatists.
The petition, which was published on July 21 and is open for signatures until Nov. 18, gained steam this week, nearly tripling in signatures in fewer than two days.
The author of the petition spoke with Canadian national broadcaster CBC News on Wednesday, saying that the response has been larger than she expected.
Walker said she doesn't necessarily expect the government to expel Hoekstra, "but hopes the petition will send a message."
