![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5b155b97c922578b3e648a1cdaf0b6e6e68116fb4dcee6ae2b89aa31f12c2933-300x200.jpg\")
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra speaks at a party marking 250 years of U.S. independence in Ottawa on Saturday, July 4, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin TangOTTAWA \u2014 Nearly 30,000 Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country.\nThe 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.
\nThe petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of \u201cmaking repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.\u201d
\nIt says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.
\nThe petition, which was launched by a woman from Calgary, will be presented in Parliament by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
\nMembers of Parliament can table petitions in the House of Commons without endorsing their contents.
\nThe petition also says Hoekstra has normalized the Trump administration\u2019s threats to annex Canada.
\nHoekstra made headlines earlier this summer when he said Canada\u2019s annexation by the United States would be a \u201cgreat discussion\u201d for Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Trump to have.
\nHoekstra told a crowd in Halifax last September that he was disappointed and frustrated by the \u201canti-American\u201d tone in the most recent federal election campaign. He said it was dangerous for Canadian political leaders to describe the Trump administration\u2019s tariff campaign as a trade war.
\nHe has repeatedly criticized Canadian politicians for discouraging travel to the U.S. and for pulling American liquor off their shelves.
\nResponding to reporters in Canada who have challenged his comments, Hoekstra said it\u2019s his job to \u201cpresent the president\u2019s views.\u201d
\nA spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the petition except to say the embassy is aware of it.
\nA persona non grata declaration is a tool in the UN\u2019s Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that allows a government to strip diplomatic immunity from an individual and force them to leave the country.
\nCanada has expelled diplomats in the past \u2014 most recently representatives of China and India over allegations of foreign interference.
\nIn 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.
\nA 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.
\nIn July of this year, an indictment released by U.S. authorities alleged the infamous Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi ordered Nijjar\u2019s assassination.
\nUnder Carney\u2019s leadership, the federal government has worked to improve relations with both China and India.
\nThis report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n