Metro Vancouver residents join 'Tesla Takedown' protests against Musk, Trump
Protesters speak out against Elon Musk’s political interference and ties to U.S. President Donald Trump
Metro Vancouver residents joined a wave of "Tesla Takedown" protests this weekend happening in several cities across Canada, the United States and parts of Europe.
Protesters say they have been moved to act by Tesla CEO Elon Musk's "interfering" in politics and his role advising U.S. President Donald Trump, who has in recent weeks slapped steep tariffs on Canadian goods, sparking an ongoing trade war, and repeatedly suggested Canada would be better off as the 51st state.
About two dozen demonstrators gathered outside a Tesla dealership in Surrey, B.C., on Sunday, holding signs with messages such as "elbows up" and "Elon be-gone."
Dual Canadian-American citizen Jen Gagnon helped organize the event and says following U.S. politics has "felt like watching (her) childhood home burn down" since Trump's election last fall.
Gagnon says she has been avoiding buying American products when possible, but she felt compelled to do more to push back against Trump, Musk and "creeping" fascism in Canada.
Another demonstrator, Juan Alperin, attended the protest with his 12-year-old son, saying he had been looking to take actions that ensure his son's future is "as bright as the one that can be."
Alperin is a professor in the faculty of communication, art and technology at Simon Fraser University, and says he's worried that deliberative democracy is declining while authoritarianism is rising.
"All of the platforms in which we communicate and talk to one another are controlled more and more by the tech oligarchy," he said, referring to platforms such as X, which is owned by Musk.
"We're seeing that the press is being owned by billionaires, the social media we use is owned by the same billionaires, and the alignment that is happening in the United States ... is just a more overt version of the same kind of thing that's happening in Canada."
Musk is a self-described "free speech absolutist" who has faced criticism from hate-speech watchdogs for allowing extremist, dangerous and antisemitic comments to flourish on X.
He is also the world's richest person and runs his businesses as he advises Trump on ways to overhaul the federal government through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Vancouver resident Andrew Balakshin was at Sunday's protest in Surrey and said he believed billionaires were "interfering" with politics in North America and Europe in ways they shouldn't be.
Balakshin said he disagreed with a post Musk recently shared from another user on X saying "Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't murder millions of people. Their public sector workers did."
"I'm also against the attacks on Canadian sovereignty ... by saying Canada is not a country and that our prime minister is a governor," Balakshin said, referring to quips by Musk earlier this year.
Sunday's protest outside the Surrey Tesla dealership inspired a steady stream of honks of support from passing drivers.
An employee inside the Surrey Tesla dealership said they were not authorized to speak in response to the protests, and directed The Canadian Press to contact the company's media relations team.
The Tesla media team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protests.
Tesla has been a target for protests and vandalism since Musk became a key figure in Trump's administration.
Gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon this month, while four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a blaze in Seattle, but investigators have not said if the flames were sparked on purpose.
The "Tesla Takedown" protest events are posted on a website called Action Network, which individuals and community groups use to promote what the site describes as "progressive causes."
There were protests outside Tesla dealerships in Ottawa and Vancouver on Saturday, with another planned in Kitchener, Ont., later in March.
Gagnon, who moved to Canada from the United States about a decade ago, says the protests are partly aimed at encouraging people not to buy Teslas in hopes of reducing Musk's wealth.
The protests come a few days after British Columbia's Crown utility, BC Hydro, announced it was removing Tesla products from its electric vehicle rebate program.
The move is in line with B.C.'s efforts to prioritize Canadian goods and exclude American products from rebates when practical as the trade dispute between the two countries wears on.
With files from The Associated Press