Tens of thousands of Canadians call for U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra to be expelled

Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump's representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country.

The 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.

Nearly 60,000 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday morning, almost double the number of signatures 24 hours earlier.

The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of "making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol."

It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.

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The petition, which was launched by a woman from Calgary, will be presented in Parliament by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. Members of Parliament can table petitions in the House of Commons without endorsing their contents.

The petition also says Hoekstra has normalized the Trump administration's threats to annex Canada.

Hoekstra made headlines in June by saying that Canada's annexation by the United States would be a great topic of discussion for Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Hoekstra told a crowd in Halifax last September that he was disappointed and frustrated by the "anti-American" tone in the most recent federal election campaign. He said it was dangerous for Canadian political leaders to describe the Trump administration's tariff campaign as a trade war.

He has repeatedly criticized Canadian politicians for discouraging travel to the U.S. and for pulling American liquor off of shelves.

Responding to reporters in Canada who have challenged his comments, Hoekstra said it's his job to "present the president's views."