29,000 Canadians Sign Petition To Expel U.S. Ambassador, A Document Best Described As Very Firmly Worded
A petition calling for the expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has passed 29,000 signatures, which in Canadian diplomatic terms is roughly equivalent to a nation-wide sigh.
Expelling an ambassador is one of the sharpest tools in the diplomatic drawer. Canada has historically kept that drawer locked, painted over, and behind a filing cabinet from 1987. Officials note the last time Ottawa seriously considered such a move, the deliberations concluded with a strongly worded letter, a follow-up letter apologising for the tone of the first letter, and a working group.
Signatories cited Hoekstra's public comments about Canadian boycotts of American travel and liquor, which he characterised as unhelpful. Canadians, being Canadians, responded by continuing to not visit Buffalo while writing their names on a website.
Global Affairs has offered no timeline. Insiders describe the internal mood as "aware." One official reportedly asked whether the petition could be forwarded to the ambassador as a courtesy, so he wouldn't be blindsided.
Meanwhile the ambassador continues to attend events in Ottawa, where he is greeted politely, seated near the front, and thanked for coming. Two attendees at a recent reception confirmed they had signed the petition that morning and then shook his hand that evening, because it would have been rude not to.
The petition now needs 71,000 more signatures to trigger a formal government response, which is a written acknowledgment that the petition exists.
Canada's actual leverage remains what it has always been: a trading relationship worth a trillion dollars and the quiet threat that we will keep being reasonable at you until you feel bad about it.