According to data released on the website of the House of Commons of Canada, as of the 16th local time, more than 200,000 Canadian citizens have signed a real-name petition calling for the expulsion of U.S. ambassador to Canada, Hoekstra.
The House of Commons website shows that the petition accuses Hoekstra of repeatedly making statements damaging to Canada-U.S. relations and interfering in Canada’s internal affairs, including normalizing remarks by U.S. President Trump threatening to annex Canada as the 51st state of the U.S.
The petition calls on the Canadian government to officially declare Hoekstra persona non grata and to appoint a parliamentary committee to investigate U.S. diplomatic interference in Canada’s internal affairs. The petition also demands that the Canadian side lodge representations with the U.S. regarding Hoekstra’s pattern of behavior deemed inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
This petition was initiated by residents of Calgary, a city in western Canada, and submitted to Parliament by Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada. Since being opened for signatures on July 21, the number of signatories topped 200,000 in less than a month, making it one of the most followed and signed petitions since the electronic petition system was established in 2015. The period for signing ends on November 18.