elon musk's saskatchewan ties do little to ward off canadian ire
elon musk may have roots in saskatchewan but the billionaire has garnered a fair amount of scorn for his role in u.s. president donald trump's administration
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elon musk walks on stage during the annual conservative political action conference (cpac) at national harbor in oxon hill, maryland, on february 20, 2025.
saul loeb
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afp via getty images
despite elon musk’s ties to saskatchewan, more than 6,000 people from the prairie province have signed a parliamentary petition seeking to strip him of his canadian citizenship.
musk, a renowned businessman known for his role in paypal, spacex, tesla, solarcity and neuralink, has aligned himself with donald trump and echoed the u.s. president’s sentiment that canada should join the u.s. as its 51st state.
the petition, which began circulating nationwide last week, suggests that musk “has engaged in activities that go against the national interest of canada.”
the billionaire is no stranger to controversy as he appears to play an outsized role in trump’s administration. but one thing is certain: musk does have ties to canada through the land of living skies.
what are his saskatchewan roots?
musk’s mother, maye (née haldeman), was born in regina to winnifred josephine (née fletcher) of moose jaw, and joshua norman haldeman.
her father — musk’s maternal grandfather — was part of the technocracy movement and unsuccessfully ran as a member of the social credit party in provincial and federal elections.
in 1989, a 17-year-old musk spent approximately six weeks living at a farm that belonged to his cousin near waldeck, a village east of swift current.
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why is he so controversial?
musk currently leads the department of government efficiency (doge), which has been responsible for cutting federal programming, agencies and firing employees.
musk’s role in trump’s administration has drawn ire from many canadians, as evidenced by the number of signatures on the petition.
on the social media website x — formerly known as twitter, which was acquired by musk in 2022 — he replied to a post about the petition by saying: “canada is not a real country.”
the post has since been deleted.
in addition to ongoing tariff threats, trump has called for canada to become america’s 51st state on several occasions, using increasingly bellicose rhetoric and even going so far as to call prime minister justin trudeau a “governor.”
what is this petition all about?
the petition, introduced feb. 20 and open until june 20, was initiated by qualia reed from nanaimo, b.c., and is sponsored by federal ndp mp charlie angus. as of midday on wednesday, it had notched more than 300,000 signatures.
that’s approaching a record, with 387,487 signatures being the high-water mark for parliamentary petitions.
as for the rationale behind revoking musk’s citizenship, the petition states: “he has used his wealth and power to influence our elections; he has now become a member of a foreign government that is attempting to erase canadian sovereignty; and, the attempts of elon musk to attack canadian sovereignty must be addressed.”
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to actually revoke someone’s citizenship, the government of canada lays out three scenarios. citizenship can be revoked if a person committed fraud, misrepresented themselves, and/or “knowingly hid information on an immigration or citizenship application.”
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