Over 200K Canadians have already signed a petition to relieve Elon Musk of his citizenship

For those of you who may not be aware, Elon Musk — a known American and South African national — has Canadian citizenship through his mother, Maye Musk, a model and dietician hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan.

And, again, for those of you who may not be aware, it is none too wise to hold Canadian citizenship while serving as a senior advisor to one Donald Trump, who has threatened Canada’s sovereignty time and time again ever since he took office for a second time. In doing so, you might convince enough Canadians to call for a revocation of your citizenship.

Per The Guardian, that’s exactly what’s happening. After British Columbian author Qualia Reed launched a petition on Feb. 20 to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship, it quickly found a sponsor in parliament member Charlie Angus (New Democratic Party) before garnering around 236,210 signatures at the time of writing — a (growing) number that easily clears the 500 signatures necessary to potentially bring it to the government’s official attention in the House of Commons.

The petition claims that Elon Musk has engaged in activities that go against the national interests of Canada, in reference to the key role he plays in Trump’s government. Trump, of course, has been none too subtle about his interest in annexing Canada, notoriously mocking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the “Governor Trudeau” moniker. Elsewhere, the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York star’s tariff campaign against the United States’ northern acquaintance has ruffled none too few feathers in its own right.

The petition further claims Musk has used his wealth and power to influence Canada’s elections and that his place in a foreign government trying to erase Canada’s sovereignty is grounds for the Canadian government to address Musk’s citizenship.

The claims are not unfounded — Musk has openly mocked Trudeau following the latter’s resignation announcement and has made a point to endorse Pierre Poilievre, the current leader of Canada’s Conservative Party. This endorsement, may I remind you, coming from an unelected senior advisor whose reckless government cuts continue to destabilize the constitutional and geopolitical landscape every other day.

Nevertheless, the case of Musk’s citizenship — should the Canadian government choose to pursue it — may prove to be an unusual one. Subsection 10 of Canada’s Citizenship Act provides the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (a position currently held by Liberal Marc Miller) the power to revoke a person’s citizenship if it was “obtained, retained, renounced or resumed” via false representation, fraud, or the knowing concealment of material circumstances.

However, Bill C-6 — which made amendments to the Canadian citizenship revocation provisions in June 2017 — dictates that the Federal Court decides the outcome of citizenship revocation cases, unless the subject of the revocation requests that the Minister act as the decision maker. This applies to the aforementioned cases of fraudulent citizenship obtainment, as well as cases relating to national security, which Musk’s case would almost certainly fall under.

This means that, should the Canadian government address the petition to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship on the grounds of national security, the Federal Court will decide whether or not Musk can remain as a Canadian citizen, unless Musk himself requests that Marc Miller make the decision.

Would the revocation do much to hamper the already insidious reign of the Trump administration? No, but the less movement he and his top puppets have, the better. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a petition to sign.