At what point do we say ‘enough is enough’ and declare American ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra persona non grata?

Since April, 2025, he has served as Donald Trump’s spokesman in Canada. The things he has said and the things he has done offer a window into Trump’s own intentions toward us, and his level of respect for our country and our independence.

Canada and Canadians can only be so nice for so long.

Hoekstra, born Cornelius Piet Hoekstra, himself an immigrant to the United States from the Netherlands, is credited as a contributor to Project 2025’s core document, Mandate for Leadership, The Conservative Promise.

The document lays out a Christian nationalist vision for the United States with an all-powerful absolutist presidency and a restructured government around hard right ideology, and it has been systematically implemented over the year and a half of Trump’s second presidency.

If we consider Hoekstra’s involvement in writing this document and his subsequent appointment as the United States ambassador to Canada, we must take his mandate to be the implementation of Project 2025 with respect to Canada. His actions, in this context, make far more sense than the cop-out of seeing him as little more than a belligerent drunk being rude to his host nation.

Project 2025 only mentions Canada a few times, and the meaning is often far clearer in retrospect. Take this excerpt from about two-thirds of the way through, for example:

Similarly, the United States must work with Mexico, Canada, and other countries to develop a hemisphere-focused energy policy that will reduce reliance on distant and manipulable sources of fossil fuels, restore the free flow of energy among the hemisphere’s largest producers, and work together to increase energy production, including for nations that are looking for dramatic economic expansion.

His embrace of Alberta separatism makes sense if the objective is to fold Canadian energy production, which exists primarily in Alberta, into the United States’ domestic market.

The American theft of Venezuelan oil since their decapitation raid last fall to arrest Maduro has resulted in at least $8 billion of seized oil revenue. With the devastating earthquakes in the country last month, the United States is offering about $150 million in aid — and asking the public to donate rather than returning the money they took from the country in their time of need.

It would be naive to think that their view of Canadian oil or its value, or their respect for our autonomy over it, is any different.

Hoekstra has made his country’s case on the F-35 vs Saab Gripen fighter choice clear, as well. Earlier this year, you may recall, he told Canada that if we do not choose the American F-35 fighter for our air force, the United States would see the NORAD agreement as null and void and patrol Canadian airspace with American jets at will.

This offer — either give up your sovereignty on defence spending and weapons systems selection, or just straight out give up your sovereignty — is the clearest possible statement of how Hoekstra and the administration he represents sees Canada. It fits with Trump’s longstanding rhetoric about annexing Canada as a whole into the United States, with his frequent 51st-state rhetoric.

Hoekstra may not fully understand why Canadians are not embracing his country as our feudal overlords as much as he would like us to, but it is not stopping him from continually disrespecting our country and its very existence. Who can forget when he even had ideological partner Doug Ford demanding an apology for his words and behaviour, without any irony.

Or his recent screed denying Canada paid for the Gordie Howe bridge that his government refuses to allow to be opened between Windsor and Detroit — after Canada footed its entire bill.

Which leads us to the most recent slap in Canada’s face by the ambassador — the invitation of Tamara Lich to the United States embassy for their Independence Day celebration. Lich, you may recall, was convicted in connection with her role in organising the Ottawa freedom convoy, which, among other things, called for the overthrow of Canada’s government. She had to obtain permission from per probation officer to take leave from house arrest to attend.

To understand the symbolism and the deep institutional insult to Canada that this represents, imagine that the government of Canada had invited January 6th coup leaders to the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC, during the Biden administration.

Hoekstra is the representative of the United States to Canada. His actions, by definition, represent the will of the American government. The message he brings is loud and clear, and it is not one that is welcome on our soil.

There comes a point in time where we must put our elbows up and kick this disgrace of an ambassador out of Canada — along with everything that he represents.

As far as I am concerned, that time has come.

This is fanciful, of course. Given the implications, for Canada to eject the American ambassador would probably take a full-scale military invasion, and even then we would keep them here so that we would have someone to negotiate with. So, I suppose, we will continue to pretend he is just a belligerent drunk and carry on accordingly.