Calls Grow for Ottawa to Take Diplomatic Action as U.S. President Escalates Rhetoric
A Canadian international relations expert is urging the federal government to block the appointment of U.S. President Donald Trump’s chosen ambassador to Canada, arguing that Ottawa must take a firm stance against Trump’s repeated suggestions of annexing Canada.
“We could potentially use this as a way of signalling the seriousness with which the Government of Canada is viewing this unwelcome talk,” said Will Greaves, a professor of international relations at the University of Victoria.
Greaves described Trump’s annexation rhetoric as “aggressive” and “hostile”, warning that Canada must use diplomatic tools to push back.
For weeks, Trump has openly suggested making Canada a U.S. state, first characterizing the idea as a joke but later escalating the rhetoric, linking it to Canada’s vast resource wealth.
During a speech on Sunday, Trump claimed that he could enact economic policies that would make Canada “unviable” by shutting down the country’s auto sector.
“Without the U.S., Canada doesn’t really have a country. They do almost all of their business with us,” Trump said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who initially dismissed the remarks, told business leaders last week that Trump’s annexation talk is “a real thing” the U.S. president is considering.
Trump has nominated Pete Hoekstra, a former Michigan congressman and GOP chair, as the next U.S. ambassador to Canada. While Hoekstra still requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has so far welcomed his appointment, citing his understanding of cross-border trade.
However, Greaves believes Canada should deny Hoekstra’s credentials as a way to impose diplomatic costs on Trump.
“To reject, or not accept, the credentials of the next U.S. ambassador would be to deprive Donald Trump of that plum patronage appointment that he can give to one of his supporters,” Greaves explained. “That costs him something.”
While the U.S. ambassador to Canada typically plays a symbolic role, Greaves argues that rejecting Hoekstra would send a strong diplomatic signal—one that Canada would not hesitate to send if another country were challenging its sovereignty.
“If Russia sent an ambassador after suggesting the Canadian Arctic was actually Russian territory, would we accept them?” Greaves asked. “We shouldn’t allow the fact that it’s the United States to overly colour what is an appropriate reaction under these circumstances.”
Greaves also suggested that if Trump does not walk back his annexation rhetoric, Canada should consider barring him from the upcoming G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta in June.
“Why would Canada host, as an honoured guest on its soil, the head of state of the country that is publicly, repeatedly, and directly challenging our very sovereignty?” he said.
Refusing to accredit an envoy is a rare diplomatic maneuver, typically reserved for serious international disputes. Canada has only done so in exceptional cases, such as:
2023 – Canada denied a diplomatic visa to a Chinese political operative linked to Beijing’s Communist Party.
2018 – Canada barred three Russian diplomats and expelled four others in response to the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K.
1987 – Ottawa rejected Israel’s military attaché Amos Yaron over concerns about militia attacks on Palestinian civilians in Beirut during the 1982 Lebanon War.
While blocking Hoekstra could invite U.S. retaliation, Greaves argues that Canada must be prepared to pay the price for its sovereignty.
“That is the price of our independence, as decided by Donald Trump,” he said.
With tensions rising between Ottawa and Washington, the Trudeau government faces mounting pressure to determine how far it is willing to go in pushing back against Trump’s threats—both economically and diplomatically.