More than 280,000 Canadians have signed a petition asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to strip tech mogul Elon Musk of his Canadian citizenship for acting against Canada’s national interest.
Launched on February 20, the parliamentary petition claims that Musk, the head of United States President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, has “become a member of a foreign government that is attempting to erase Canadian sovereignty”.
It also accuses him of being “engaged in activities that go against the national interest of Canada” and using his “wealth and power to influence [Canadian] elections”.
Musk, the world’s richest man, holds South African, US, and Canadian passports – the latter of which he gained through his Canadian-born mother.
Musk made his name as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as well as the owner of X, but has recently become enmeshed in US politics as one of Trump’s closest confidants.
The billionaire has been by Trump’s side as he has turned relations between Washington and Ottawa on their head by threatening to add a 25 percent tariff to Canadian and Mexican goods, which would effectively void the three-decade-old free trade zone between the US, Canada and Mexico.
Trump put the tariffs on hold for 30 days in early February to allow for negotiations between Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City, but said on Monday he would go forward with the measures next week.
He has also threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminium imports to the US, including from Canada.
Trump and Musk have made remarks suggesting that Canada should become the “51st state” of the US, with Musk referring to Trudeau as “Canada’s governor”. Musk made similar remarks in response to the petition, claiming on X that “Canada is not a real country”.
The Canadian petition, sponsored by New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus, is open until June 20, when it will be presented to Parliament for a potential response by the government.
It is unclear how Ottawa might respond to the petition.
Under Canadian law, citizenship can be revoked in cases of serious crimes such as treason and espionage or where an individual “committed fraud, misrepresented [themselves], or knowingly hid information on an immigration or citizenship application”.
