The call to dump American Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is growing. E-7531 is a House of Commons online petition, which had more than 106,000 signatures on Aug. 13. 

The petition, launched by a Calgary woman, is slated to be presented to Parliament by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May when the House of Commons reconvenes in the fall. 

According to a weekly rolling average, almost 3,000 people were signing the petition daily before it made the national news and momentum grew. 

The petition calls on the government to declare Hoekstra persona non grata and secure his removal from the country. It accuses the ambassador of making statements that undermine the relationship between Canada and the United States, and “making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.”

The ambassador has criticized what he characterized as an “anti-American tone” in the last election. 

The Canadian government does have the power to expel diplomats, but it is a tool used very infrequently. Past diplomats have been expelled for allegations of spying, foreign interference, and criminal acts. 

Hoekstra claims he is simply representing the views of U.S. President Donald Trump, and in that respect he is correct. 

The petition also states that before Hoekstra became ambassador, he was........

© The Hill Times