Calgary woman’s petition to oust U.S. ambassador to Canada gaining momentum
Posted August 12, 2026 2:44 pm.
A petition launched by a Calgary woman calling for the removal of the U.S. ambassador to Canada is rapidly gaining national attention with signatures surging in recent days.
Leanne Walker started the petition on July 21, urging Ottawa to declare U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra persona non grata, request his removal, and have a parliamentary committee investigate allegations of U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.
Walker tells CityNews she launched the petition after watching what she describes as increasingly abnormal diplomatic behaviour from Hoekstra.
“Honestly, a combination of things, but mainly watching the rhetoric from a sitting U.S. ambassador get normalized, and also watching that rhetoric get intersected with the separatist movement here at home,” she said. “I don’t believe that’s normal diplomat behaviour, and I was tired of it becoming background noise.”
The petition outlines several allegations, including claims that Hoekstra has characterized the 2025 Canadian federal election as “anti-American,” described Trump-era threats to annex Canada as the ’51st state’ as a “term of endearment,” and accused Canada of interfering in U.S. domestic politics.
Walker’s petition also accuses Hoekstra of being linked to a Michigan-based voter identification app used by the Alberta separatist group Centurion Project, and denying knowledge of three meetings between the Alberta Prosperity Project and U.S. State Department officials.
Hoekstra has defended his public comments, saying his role includes presenting the U.S. president’s views. The U.S. Embassy has acknowledged the petition, but has said little else about it.
Walker says the surge in signatures, now past 57,000, shows widespread concern among Canadians.
“It’s beyond what I expected out of this,” she said. “It tells me that it’s not a fringe issue, and that a lot of Canadians are uncomfortable with how Hoekstra has been repeating Trump talking points about our sovereignty and Canada as a whole.
“It tells me that Canadians want their government to push back, and not just quietly absorb it.”
While she acknowledges that expelling an ambassador is a major diplomatic step, Walker says the petition is about forcing a public, on‑the‑record response.
“Realistically, declaring an ambassador persona non grata is a significant diplomatic step and I don’t expect the government to do it lightly,if at all,” she said. “But, what I would like to see come of this isn’t necessarily the exact outcome, it’s for the government to have to respond when it’s tabled, and to send a clear message that this sort of conduct from a sitting ambassador isn’t something we’ll just shrug off.”
The petition is sponsored in Parliament by Green Party MP Elizabeth May and remains open for signatures until Nov. 18. Once tabled, the federal government will be required to issue a formal response within 45 days.
With files from The Canadian Press
