Dozens of people took to the Tesla showroom on Carling Avenue Saturday afternoon to sound off on the company’s CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cars were seen driving by, honking their horns and cheering along to signs saying, “Elbows up Canada,” and “Honk if you’re not driving a Tesla.”
“Tesla Takedown” organizer Andrea Still says she hopes the protest will lead to more boycotts again the company as Canada duels with the U.S. powerhouse led by Trump and Musk.
“We’re getting a great response from people driving by lots of horn honking,” Still said. “I would say that public support is very much on side with our message.”
Tesla’s stock price has taken a hit in recent days, dropping 30 per cent since Trump rolled out his tariff plan against Canadian goods.
Musk has been a supporter of Trump’s threats to annex Canada, writing on his social media platform X that Canada is “not a real country.”
“This is a bit of a push in in Canada to make people aware and give that stock drop a little extra push from behind here from Ottawa.” Still said.
Still argues residents should not support any company owned by Musk.
“He has promoted a racist, antisemitic message both in the United States and around the world. He has his owns apps, so he has a free platform on which to promote his views as abhorrent as they are.” Still says.
“We’re putting out the message that if people don’t know about those views, they should and they should perhaps think twice about purchasing a Tesla. And if they already own one, perhaps think about trading it in or looking at a different electric vehicle.”
CTV News has reached out to Tesla for comment.
Retail Analyst Bruce Winder predicts that this is a long game for Musk. He adds this doesn’t mean Musk will stop Tesla sales in Canada but continue to wait and see what the market does.
“Mr. Musk is very intelligent. He seems to probably understand all this and realize what he’s getting into,” Winder said.
“Being such a controversial figure will lead to a polarity in terms of his brands, and I’m assuming he’s willing to live with that.”
This week, Trump bought a Tesla in front of the White House saying he was buying it to support Musk.
Still and other protesters are looking to the response from B.C. Premier David Eby and BC Hydro who have removed Tesla Products from the electric vehicle rebate program to fight back at Musk and Trump.
“I would love to see that,” Still said.
“You can put tariffs on the vehicles that come in, you can do any number of measures, but pulling that rebate would be one step further.”
Another “Tesla Takedown” protest is planned for Saturday, March 22 at the Carling Avenue showroom.
