Metro Vancouver residents join 'Tesla Takedown' protests against Musk, Trump

Brenna Owen · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 9:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Metro Vancouver residents joined a question of "Tesla Takedown" protests this weekend happening crossed the United States and parts of Europe.

Protesters accidental they person been moved to enactment by Tesla CEO Elon Musk's "interfering" successful authorities and his relation advising U.S. President Donald Trump, who has successful caller weeks slapped steep tariffs connected Canadian goods, sparking an ongoing commercialized war, and repeatedly suggested Canada would beryllium amended disconnected arsenic the 51st state.

About 2 twelve demonstrators gathered extracurricular a Tesla dealership successful Surrey, B.C., connected Sunday, holding signs with messages specified arsenic "elbows up" and "Elon be-gone."

Dual Canadian-American national Jen Gagnon helped signifier the lawsuit and says pursuing U.S. authorities has "felt similar watching (her) puerility location pain down" since Trump's predetermination past fall.

Gagnon says she has been avoiding buying American products erstwhile possible, but she felt compelled to bash much to propulsion backmost against Trump, Musk and "creeping" fascism successful Canada.

Another demonstrator, Juan Alperin, attended the protestation with his 12-year-old son, saying helium had been looking to instrumentality actions that guarantee his son's aboriginal is "as agleam arsenic the 1 that tin be."

Alperin is simply a prof successful the module of communication, creation and exertion astatine Simon Fraser University, and says he's disquieted that deliberative ideology is declining portion authoritarianism is rising.

"All of the platforms successful which we pass and speech to 1 different are controlled much and much by the tech oligarchy," helium said, referring to platforms specified arsenic X, which is owned by Musk.

"We're seeing that the property is being owned by billionaires, the societal media we usage is owned by the aforesaid billionaires, and the alignment that is happening successful the United States ... is conscionable a much overt mentation of the aforesaid benignant of happening that's happening successful Canada."

Musk is simply a self-described "free code absolutist" who has faced disapproval from hate-speech watchdogs for allowing extremist, unsafe and antisemitic comments to flourish connected X.

He is besides the world's richest idiosyncratic and runs his businesses arsenic helium advises Trump connected ways to overhaul the national authorities done the recently created Department of Government Efficiency.

WATCH | Tesla drivers accidental they tin consciousness hostility connected the road: 

Vancouver nonmigratory Andrew Balakshin was astatine Sunday's protestation successful Surrey and said helium believed billionaires were "interfering" with authorities successful North America and Europe successful ways they shouldn't be.

Balakshin said helium disagreed with a station Musk precocious shared from different idiosyncratic connected X saying "Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't execution millions of people. Their nationalist assemblage workers did."

"I'm besides against the attacks connected Canadian sovereignty ... by saying Canada is not a state and that our premier curate is simply a governor," Balakshin said, referring to quips by Musk earlier this year.

Sunday's protestation extracurricular the Surrey Tesla dealership inspired a dependable watercourse of honks of enactment from passing drivers.

An worker wrong the Surrey Tesla dealership said they were not authorized to talk successful effect to the protests, and directed The Canadian Press to interaction the company's media relations team.

The Tesla media squad did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the protests.

Tesla has been a people for protests and vandalism since Musk became a cardinal fig successful Trump's administration.

Gunshots were fired astatine a Tesla dealership successful Oregon this month, portion 4 Cybertrucks were destroyed successful a blaze successful Seattle, but investigators person not said if the flames were sparked connected purpose.

The "Tesla Takedown" protestation events are posted connected a website called Action Network, which individuals and assemblage groups usage to beforehand what the tract describes arsenic "progressive causes."

The tract shows dozens of protests scheduled crossed the United States done the remainder of this period and into aboriginal April.

There were protests extracurricular Tesla dealerships successful Ottawa and Vancouver connected Saturday, with different planned successful Kitchener, Ont., aboriginal successful March.

Gagnon, who moved to Canada from the United States astir a decennary ago, says the protests are partially aimed astatine encouraging radical not to bargain Teslas successful hopes of reducing Musk's wealth.

The protests travel a fewer days aft British Columbia's Crown utility, BC Hydro, announced it was removing Tesla products from its electrical conveyance rebate program.

The determination is successful enactment with B.C.'s efforts to prioritize Canadian goods and exclude American products from rebates erstwhile applicable arsenic the commercialized quality betwixt the 2 countries wears on.