Small group gathers outside U.S. embassy in Ottawa to protest Trump, Musk

A group of people protest on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, across the street from the U.S. embassy. They are waving Canadian flags and holding signs that say "Canada Strong and Free", "Save Canada from Trump" and one of a giant fish labelled "Mu$$$k" swallowing two smaller fish labelled "Trump" and "GOP". Feb. 17, 2025. (CTV News)

A small group of Canadians gathered outside the United States embassy on Monday to protest U.S. President Donald Trump and his threats of annexation.

Waving Canadian flags and holding signs, the group of about three dozen chanted “strong and free” and “not for sale” Monday afternoon.

For weeks, Trump has made comments about Canada becoming the “51st state” of the U.S. and has regularly referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor,” the title for the state-level head of government.

“It (Canada) would be a cherished state and think of how beautiful that country would be without that artificial line running right through it,” Trump said in a Fox News interview earlier this month.

Trump has also threatened tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian exports to the U.S. and another 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum.

“Hell no, Trump must go!” protesters said Monday.

Protesters outside the embassy Monday—which is the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S.—held signs that condemned Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, whose “Department of Government Efficiency” has been accessing sensitive financial data and firing federal workers under the pretense of rooting out what Musk has called fraud, waste and abuse in the U.S. federal government.

There have been some calls to cut ties with Musk’s businesses due to his involvement with the Trump administration, such as the Starlink satellite service and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Earlier this month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would cancel the province’s $100-million contract with Starlink because of Trump’s tariffs on Canada but walked it back after tariffs that were set to come into effect Feb. 4 were delayed by 30 days.

In Ottawa, Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas intends to introduce a motion at the next Finance and Corporate Services Committee meeting in March, calling on City of Ottawa staff to create a plan to suspend all associated X accounts operated by the city and migrate to other platforms.

As for the Government of Canada, a spokesperson for the Treasury Board Secretariat told CTV News Ottawa it is up to individual departments to determine what social media platforms are used to communicate with the public. Many federal departments and Crown corporations post to X.

“Departments are free to use a variety of social media platforms for departmental communications purposes based on their respective needs and objectives. Treasury Board policy instruments do not prescribe nor prohibit any specific social media platform for departmental use,” a statement said.

Hockey fans have also been booing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at NHL games, and at the recent Four Nations Face-Off tournament.

--With files from CTV News’s Stephanie Ha, CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle, CTV News Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras and Joshua Freeman, and The Associated Press