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PAM FRAMPTON: Why it's time to send the U.S. ambassador packing

U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has overstayed his welcome as he spouts Trump's 51st state rhetoric

You can say one thing about Pete Hoekstra: when it comes to the part of his mandate as U.S. ambassador to Canada that says he must advance U.S. policy, he has attacked it with the utmost zeal.

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So much so that at times, his remarks could have been uttered by the U.S. president himself.

Diplomats are supposed to protect the interests of the state they represent — of course. But before Hoekstra took up the post, we were used to U.S. representatives who were, well, more diplomatic.

Hoekstra, on the other hand, is like Trump’s personal pit bull.

“Not taking the president of the United States serious — do that at your own risk,” Hoekstra told Global News after Trump took to social media to complain about wildfire smoke in Canada that was drifting into the U.S.

“Canada has refused to engage in basic Forest Management and Debris Removal, knowing that such refusal will lead to exactly this result,” Trump wrote on July 17, using his typically erratic capitalization and revealing his penchant for using all caps for emphasis.

“This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly........

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