More than 240,000 Canadians have signed a parliamentary petition asking the government to strip Elon Musk of his Canuck citizenship and passport for going “against the national interest” of the country.
The petition, filed last Friday, accuses Musk of using his “wealth and power” to influence Canada’s elections, and attempting to erase and attack “Canadian sovereignty.”
Musk responded to the petition on X, the social media platform he bought in April 2022, saying, “Canada is not a real country,” which he then deleted.
The South African-born billionaire, who is now a key adviser to President Donald Trump, left his homeland when he was 17 and arrived in Canada in 1989 with about $2,000, a backpack and a suitcase of books, according to Politico. He currently has citizenship in three countries: South Africa, Canada and the United States.
Pictured (left) is Elon Musk speaking during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 20, 2025. Pictured (right) is an accurate vector drawing of Canada’s flag in terms of size, scale, and colour of the elements.
Canada’s recent drama with Donald Trump
Trump, who Elon publicly supported leading up to the 2024 presidential election, said last month that he would use “economic force” to absorb Canada as America’s 51st state. Andrew Furey, now-former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said Trump’s threats to make Canada the ‘51st state’ should be taken as a serious threat to Canadian sovereignty, CBS News reported.
The 47th U.S. president elaborated on his comments, saying America should not be paying $200 billion a year in subsidies to Canada “when they’re not a state.” In response to Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.” Shortly after defending Canada, Trudeau announced his resignation in January.
Communication with Trump and Trudeau has occurred as the president decided earlier this month to pause the threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian goods for 30 days.
Although Trump and Trudeau have been speaking, the two still may not be seeing eye-to-eye regarding the president’s comments about making Canada the 51st state. Following Canada’s win over the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament last week, Trudeau said in an X post, “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”
Elon Musk’s Canadian past
When Musk arrived in Canada, he ended up working on a farm in rural Saskatchewan that the cousin of his mother, Maye Musk, owned, the Globe and Mail reported. His mother was born in that province before moving to South Africa, which is why Musk was able to get a Canadian passport, according to the Canadian outlet. The 53-year-old also has U.S. citizenship.
While in Canada, Musk worked at a lumber mill in Vancouver, before attending Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for two years, according to the Globe and Mail. He also lived in Toronto at a point, and during that time he had no friends or social life so he mostly read or worked on the computer, the outlet added.
“We lived at 4000 Yonge St. Over the holidays, my nephew reminded me that he, Elon and Kimbal took turns sleeping on the bed, couch and carpet,” May Musk said in an X post in December 2019. “A friend said our apartment was very small. I didn’t think so. We still managed to have a lot of fun.”
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Kinsey Crowley and Zac Anderson/ USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canadians ask government to revoke Elon Musk’s citizenship
