Thousands Sign Petition to Expel U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra — Here's What Could Happen Next

A House of Commons e-petition urging the federal government to expel U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra from Canada has collected more than 29,000 signatures. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is set to present it in the House of Commons this fall (The Globe and Mail).

The petition, e-7531, was launched by a Calgary woman and posted to the House of Commons e-petitions portal on July 21, 2026 (House of Commons). It accuses Hoekstra of making statements that damage the Canada-U.S. relationship and of interfering in Canadian politics in ways that break diplomatic norms. It also asks the Liberal government to have a parliamentary committee look into U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs (The Globe and Mail).

The e-petition system has built-in checks. Each person can sign only once, each email address can be used for just one signature, and signatures cannot be withdrawn once submitted. The Clerk of Petitions can reject any signature that cannot be verified. Posting a petition on the House of Commons site does not mean the House endorses its views, and the House is not obligated to allow it to be presented (petitions.ourcommons.ca).

This is not the only petition targeting Hoekstra. A second House of Commons petition, e-7124, says the ambassador's statements fall short of what is expected of a diplomatic representative to Canada (House of Commons). A separate campaign called "Expel Pete Hoekstra as US Ambassador to Canada" has been running on Change.org since August 2025 (Change.org).

Hoekstra's time in Ottawa has produced a steady stream of controversy. In summer 2025, he said Canada being annexed by the United States would be a "great topic of discussion" for Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump (The Globe and Mail). In September 2025, Canadian politicians and experts pushed back after he complained about anti-American sentiment he was encountering in Canada (CBC News). The next month, witnesses said Hoekstra went on an expletive-filled tirade aimed at Ontario's trade representative, David Paterson (CBC News). In November, he accused Canada of meddling in U.S. politics and said restarting trade talks would be "not going to be easy" (CBC News).

More recently, Hoekstra was photographed with convoy leader Tamara Lich (CBC News). In July 2026, he described Canada's wildfire situation as a challenge that "knows no borders" (CBC News).

Hoekstra served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands during the first Trump administration and was a board member of the Council for a Secure America before his posting to Ottawa (U.S. Embassy in Canada).

The legal mechanism the petition invokes comes from the UN's Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. A declaration of persona non grata — Latin for "unwelcome person" — lets a host country strip an individual's diplomatic immunity and force them to leave. It is one of the strongest diplomatic tools a country can use short of cutting ties entirely. Using it against the representative of Canada's closest trading partner would carry far heavier consequences than, for example, the recent expulsions of Russian or Chinese diplomats.

The practical question for anyone who follows Parliament is whether the petition leads to any government action. E-petitions that pass 25,000 signatures routinely attract media coverage, but the government is not required to act on them. The more specific request, directing a parliamentary committee to study U.S. diplomatic interference, would need either a motion passed by the House or a committee deciding on its own to launch such a study. With the House not sitting until mid-September, and a minority Parliament where committee agendas are negotiated among party whips, getting from petition to study is not automatic.

Elizabeth May's role as the presenting MP gives the petition a moment on the floor of the House of Commons. Under House rules, an MP who presents an e-petition may rise in the chamber to briefly summarize it. The government then has 45 sitting days to table a response, though that response can simply restate existing policy. Whether any opposition party will use the petition to push for a committee motion, or whether the Liberals will acknowledge the 29,000 signatures in their response, should become clearer once the House resumes.

The broader context here is the precedent a persona non grata declaration would set. Canada has used this tool rarely, and never against a U.S. ambassador. The Canada-U.S. relationship is managed through many layers of formal and informal contact, and a declaration of this kind against Washington's envoy would signal those channels have broken down. The petition's organizers appear to be testing whether there is political appetite for exactly that kind of signal. Whether there is one will depend less on the signature count than on how party leaders and the government front bench choose to respond when the petition lands on the House agenda.