Who is Pete Hoekstra? Why Canadians are calling for the US ambassador to Canada to be ousted as petition crosses 100,000 signatures

Pete Hoekstra, US ambassador to Canada, has found himself at the center of a growing diplomatic controversy, with more than 100,000 people signing a Pete Hoekstra petition calling for him to be declared persona non grata and removed from the country. But who is Hoekstra, and why has the U.S. ambassador become such a controversial figure in Canada?

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Who is Pete Hoekstra?

Hoekstra is a veteran Republican politician and diplomat with decades of experience in American politics.


Born in the Netherlands in 1953, Hoekstra moved to the United States as a child. He studied political science at Hope College before earning an MBA from the University of Michigan. He began his professional career at office furniture company Herman Miller, where he eventually became vice president of marketing.

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His political career began in Congress. Hoekstra represented Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2011 and later chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2004 to 2007.

He subsequently moved into diplomacy, serving as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands during Donald Trump’s first administration.

Before becoming ambassador to Canada, Hoekstra was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party during the 2024 election cycle. He also runs Hoekstra Global Strategies and has held positions with several organizations and companies.

Hoekstra became the 26th U.S. ambassador to Canada on April 29, 2025.

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Why are Canadians calling for Hoekstra’s ouster?

The controversy is largely about what critics describe as Hoekstra’s involvement in Canadian political affairs and his approach to the increasingly tense relationship between Washington and Ottawa.

The Pete Hoekstra petition, launched by Calgary resident Leanne Walker, calls on the Canadian government to declare him persona non grata and request his removal. It also asks Ottawa to raise concerns with the U.S. about what the petition describes as a pattern of conduct inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

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The petition also asks for a parliamentary committee to examine alleged U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian domestic affairs.

His comments have drawn criticism

Hoekstra has faced criticism over comments concerning Canadian politics, trade and the broader relationship between the two countries.

Critics argue that an ambassador should represent his government without appearing to interfere in the domestic political debate of the host country. The petition specifically accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine Canada-U.S. relations and making “repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.”

The dispute comes at a particularly sensitive time. Canada-U.S. relations have been strained by trade disputes, tariffs and Donald Trump’s repeated rhetoric about Canada.

For many of Hoekstra’s critics, therefore, the issue is bigger than one ambassador. They see his conduct as part of a broader pattern in which Canadian sovereignty and domestic politics are being discussed from Washington.

How big has the Pete Hoekstra petition become?

The campaign has grown rapidly. As of Thursday, the petition had attracted more than 104,000 signatures, according to reporting on August 13.

The petition was submitted by Walker and is sponsored by Green Party MP Elizabeth May. Under Canada’s parliamentary petition system, petitions meeting the required criteria can receive a formal government response.

The growing number of signatures does not automatically remove Hoekstra from his diplomatic post. But it has turned the Pete Hoekstra petition into a significant public expression of frustration over the current state of Canada-U.S. relations.

For Pete Hoekstra, US ambassador to Canada, the controversy represents an unusually intense challenge to his role—and a sign of just how strained the relationship between the two neighbors has become.