The Guardian – More than 150,000 Canadians have signed a parliamentary petition calling for Elon Musk to be stripped of his Canadian citizenship due to his alliance with Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada as the 51st state.
The petition was launched by British Columbia author Qualia Reed and sponsored by New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, a vocal critic of Musk, as first reported by the Canadian Press.
Musk, who was born in South Africa, holds Canadian citizenship through his mother, Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Regina, Saskatchewan. Despite leading major U.S. companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter/X, Musk has been actively working to reduce the size of the U.S. federal government at Trump’s behest. Since assuming a second term as U.S. president on January 20, Trump has persistently challenged Canada’s sovereignty.
Filed on February 20, Reed’s petition accuses Musk of engaging in activities contrary to Canada’s national interests by advising Trump. The former president has inflamed tensions by threatening steep tariffs on Canadian products and making public statements about annexing the country. His comments were particularly provocative following Canada’s national hockey team’s politically charged victory over the U.S. on February 20.
The petition argues that Musk’s alignment with Trump effectively makes him “a member of a foreign government that is attempting to erase Canadian sovereignty.” It calls on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship and passport immediately. Trump has often mocked Trudeau by referring to him as a “governor,” the title given to state leaders in the U.S. Meanwhile, Musk has publicly praised Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, celebrating Trudeau’s January announcement that he would resign as Liberal Party leader after a successor is chosen.
According to the Canadian Press, parliamentary petitions require a minimum of 500 signatures to be presented in the House of Commons and potentially receive a government response. Reed’s petition has far exceeded that threshold, amassing approximately 167,000 signatures as of early Monday, with numbers continuing to rise. Canada’s House of Commons is set to resume on March 24, though a general election could be called before then. The petition’s signing period is scheduled to close on June 20.
Musk’s efforts to cut U.S. federal spending—initiated after Trump lost re-election to Joe Biden in 2020 but regained office in November, defeating Kamala Harris—have impacted hundreds of thousands of U.S. civil servants. The cuts have affected multiple agencies, including the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health and Human Services, the IRS, and the National Park Service.
A recent Economist/YouGov poll of nearly 1,600 respondents found Musk and his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge) to be significantly less popular with the public than the programs they are targeting.
Despite the controversy, Musk appeared to relish his role in the Trump administration, playfully waving a giant chainsaw at a conservative gathering in Maryland on Friday.
On Sunday, he further stoked debate by boosting an X post that read: “Of course we support Doge! Those who don’t support it are un-American.
