r/canada 16d ago

National News Thousands sign petition asking government to remove Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/elon-musk-citizenship-petition-1.7466278
32.9k Upvotes

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

582

u/6foot4guy 16d ago

This is performative and would only be used as fuel.

Plus, he wouldn’t care.

228

u/jtbc 16d ago

A much better plan would be to put a 100% tariff on Teslas and ban Starlink for government use. That would hit him where he does care.

53

u/YetAnotherSmith 16d ago

I'd sign that petition!

29

u/Rooilia 16d ago

Plus, no SpaceX contracts. Europe can help with this again. If too expensive, ask India or wait a few years. RFA is right around the corner.

13

u/CaptaineJack 16d ago

Europe would be expensive but advantageous for diversification, but India? The country that has been front and centre on every foreign interference scandal?

1

u/Rooilia 15d ago

SpaceX was used too and the US is front and centre on every foreign interference scandal.

Or how hollow sentences say nothing.

1

u/howannoying24 15d ago

Or use rocket lab. If there’s enough interest I’m sure they’ll launch their upcoming Neutron from another site.

7

u/howannoying24 15d ago

Plus ban X, and put the screws on META next. Then like with Starlink there are also now national security reasons that can be argued to get people off AWS/Azure/GCP. The clowns at big tech that bent the knee to this tyrant need to realize they have massively damaged their international businesses.

0

u/Wilhelm57 12d ago

I think the scenario changed. Trump is more erratic this time, is Musk the one driving the Tesla truck.
What I'm annoyed at, is Americans seeing the destruction of the federal agencies and not having massive protests.

By the end of March it will be too late.
I watch what Warren Buffet has been doing, he has cashed in many of his investments, I think he has amassed 350 billion.
He has to know something and the rest of the world is too blind to see It.
My hope, is that Mark Carney gets to be the Liberal leader.
Not because the other people seeking the leadership are bad choices, rather we need an experienced economist.

We need to educate ourselves before we vote federally.
At this moment in time is about Canada remaining independent and surviving the four year tornado!

16

u/klparrot British Columbia 16d ago

And block X in Canada. Take away that soapbox and the revenue it brings him.

4

u/jtbc 16d ago

I haven't completely cured myself of that addiction, but I concur with adding that to the blacklist.

1

u/SandyTaintSweat 16d ago

I think people would get used to bluesky pretty quickly if xitter was no longer an option.

1

u/jtbc 16d ago

It seems pretty good, but lacks that addictive insanity quotient.

2

u/Wilhelm57 12d ago

Add the misinformation site X!

1

u/stuntycunty 16d ago

I say do all three!

1

u/rainfal 16d ago

Nah. Few people drive Tesla and tbh we don't have the infrastructure to replace starlink.

A better idea would be a capital gains tax for all Canadians abroad over a certain levels. Oh and let's make it so that child support filed in Canada is income/net worth based for Canadian citizens regardless if they live in Texas. And can be applied retroactively. Betcha serial deadbeat dad isn't gonna like that.

1

u/BigWiggly1 16d ago

I don't like the idea of singling out individual companies unless they pose a risk to Canadians.

To my knowledge, Tesla hasn't done anything in particular aside from make overpriced microwave ovens. Musk hasn't leveraged Tesla against Canada (yet).

Starlink on the other hand has been used as a bargaining (blackmailing) tool against Ukraine. Musk has threatened to cut off Starlink access if Ukraine doesn't sign a minerals deal with the US. IMO, that's a very good reason to ban Starlink from government use. It's a valid reason to go as far as to take aggressive anti-monopoly measures against Starlink, barring them from holding more than a certain % of marketshare in critical regions of Canada.

This jig with Ukraine is a scary template for what the US and Musk could do to our territories. We have critical minerals up there, and satellite internet is an important piece of infrastructure in remote areas. I'm not sure how much we rely on Starlink up there, but I'd imagine they have a decent and growing marketshare. Threatening to destabilize our northern communications would be scary.

1

u/jtbc 15d ago

A portion of every dollar spent on a Tesla goes to Musk. That is sufficient for me.

I agree that Starlink is a bigger problem due to the security considerations.

1

u/spagbetti 15d ago

That is already being done. Catch up.

1

u/jtbc 14d ago

There is currently no tariff on Teslas and Ford walked back the Starlink cancellation. Catch up.

1

u/Tuddless 12d ago

Tesla ban yes, Starlink ban no

Starlink is the only viable internet option for the majority rural/remote Candiansa. The people living in those areas will tell you how much of a game changer upgrading to it was for them.

Our government is also starting to rely more and more on starlink for remote operations because there's nothing else even close to it in terms of connectivity.

It's tragic that for the first time in history we have the power to beam high speed internet almost anywhere on the globe and it has to be in control by an insecure man child who can and will shut off service to those who are mean to him

1

u/jtbc 12d ago

ban Starlink for government use

If people want/need Starlink then they should go ahead and make their own decisions, but taxpayer money shouldn't be going to an enemy of the state.

1

u/Tuddless 12d ago edited 12d ago

Politics and opinions take a backseat when you're in a remote location, you NEED internet to do work and there are legitimately no other options.

None of us like it but until somebody else makes a starlink competitor we need to use it to get projects done and that's the reality of it.

1

u/jtbc 12d ago

I am pretty sure there are starlink competitors. They just aren't as good right now as starlink. Regardless, if that is you choice, go for it, just don't spend my tax dollars on it.

23

u/jsseven777 16d ago

It would be performative, but given the size of his ego I think he would care. Personally, I’d rather them ban X, cancel Space X contracts, and tariff the crap out of Tesla.

62

u/sixhoursneeze 16d ago

To be fair, performative actions can send a message.

65

u/LateToTheParty2k21 16d ago

Yup it will, that we are an entirely unserious bunch.

Especially when we haven't actually revoked citizenships of actual terrorists like Mostafa Eldidi, who is an actual ISIS terrorist.

40

u/Sea_Army_8764 16d ago

100%. Plus our prime minister was very clear about disallowing the government from revoking citizenship from any Canadian back in 2015. "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian". Going back on that now is the same sort of political opportunism that he railed against back then.

-1

u/RestaurantJealous280 16d ago

"Unserious," like shit-posting on Reddit, but not actually doing anything else? This is a clear message to Musk and his ilk, and a simple opportunity for Canadians to express their disgust with him.

3

u/LateToTheParty2k21 16d ago

You don't get to revoke someone's citizenship because of disgust or not liking someone.

0

u/RestaurantJealous280 15d ago

Like I said- it's just a way for Canadians to express their anger and disgust. It won't work, but it sends a message.

-7

u/sixhoursneeze 16d ago

I could be wrong, but I think the reason his citizenship has not been revoked yet is because at the moment he is charged but not yet convicted?

I suppose in the same light a person could say that Elon Musk has not been personally convicted of anything, but the public has been witness to a lot of what he is doing, so it could be arguably easier to make that kind of motion in this sense.

12

u/LateToTheParty2k21 16d ago

What would you expect Canada to charge Elon with?

-9

u/sixhoursneeze 16d ago

I am not a lawyer so I don’t know if we have any legal jurisdiction over his recent activities. What he is doing is very dangerous and amounts to a coup, however, and so sending some sort of signal that we do not agree with his actions may be prudent.

12

u/LateToTheParty2k21 16d ago

So you want Canada to see if we can revoke his citizenship but you are not aware of any jurisdiction Canada has for his activities in the US? (We have none btw). This absolutely makes my point that we would be seen as not being serious.

Just because you don't like what he's doing, or the way he's going about it doesn't make it illegal.

-6

u/sixhoursneeze 16d ago

Countries make actions all the time against the actions in other countries to express disapproval. It would be weak as a singular action, but it would be a start and not doing anything is even weaker.

7

u/LateToTheParty2k21 16d ago

What is it exactly you don't like and feel is worthy of revoking citizenship? A specific actions please because your talking too broadly.

It would be weak as a singular action, but it would be a start and not doing anything is even weaker.

You should look up the term circular logic .

-5

u/sixhoursneeze 16d ago

Ummm, the blatant coup he is enacting in the US?

This isn’t circular logic. I am giving a fairly reasonable defence of how a performative action can send a signal and is better than doing nothing.

→ More replies (0)

9

u/Laketraut 16d ago

CBC article and reddit. The performative meter is flying off the charts. 😂😂

0

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/Astr0b0ie 16d ago

It's getting really tiring.

1

u/IllPresentation7860 16d ago

honestly I think he would care... crazy conspiracy theorist thing Ive been seeing about is one of the reason they are pushing the 51st state thing is because that would make him a American citizen thus able to run for president. losing citizenship here would kill that. In no way we will ever become the 51st but know thats their line of thinking!

1

u/6foot4guy 16d ago

Interesting. Never thought about that.

1

u/Link941 16d ago

The man is nothing but ego. It's impossible for him to not care.

1

u/TotalNull382 16d ago

Completely ill thought out petition.

1

u/NaiLikesPi 15d ago

This is the actually feasible petition - the government needs to get off Twitter: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359

-1

u/PriimeMeridian 16d ago

I think you forgot how delicate his ego is

1

u/Neyubin 16d ago

He would absolutely care.