About a dozen protesters gathered at the Langley Tesla showroom at 19505 Langley Bypass on Saturday to call for a boycott of the electric vehicle manufacturer.
About a dozen people picketed the Tesla dealership on the Langley bypass Saturday. Not everyone was pleased to see them. pic.twitter.com/JAh9Lpzs8D
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) March 23, 2025
Local organizer Pat McCutcheon, who has run as a Green Party candidate provincially and federally, said it wasn't about the cars, but about company owner Elon Musk, and his involvement with U.S. president Donald Trump.
"President Trump, Elon Musk and the other oligarchs are dismantling democracy down there at a rapid rate," McCutcheon said. "And the event that we're organizing here today is to push back against that, challenge their threat to democracy. We believe that if we can be a threat to Elon Musk's wealth, if we can collapse his wealth, he may back off."
""We do not have any sort of a grudge against people that own Teslas," McCutcheon told the Langley Advance Times.
"We understand that they probably made that purchase in good faith, and for all the right reasons. What we're trying to do here today, is we're trying to encourage the car buying public to think about an alternative to a Tesla. We need to bring down Tesla, unfortunately, to preserve democracy."
Protesters waved the Canadian flag and held up signs that said "Elon + Musk = Evil," "Musk can go to Mars, we don't need his Swasticars" and one written in Afrikaans aimed at the South-African born Musk that translated, said said something like "go away" but using less polite language.
While many drivers honked their horns in support as they drove by, at least one was no fan. The driver of a white pickup truck pulled to the side of the road next to the protesters, gave them the finger and leaned on his horn for several minutes before driving off.
McCutcheon said the driver was exercising his right to protest, the same as them.
"It's a free country. "
"He's allowed to do that, just as we're allowed to do this peacefully. That's his right in Canada, and we want to preserve that right."
Musk has been overseeing the controversial “department of government efficiency” or Doge, which has been making sweeping cuts to American government agencies like Social Security, Veteran’s Affairs, U.S. National Forest and National Parks, and USAID, the humanitarian aid agency, slashing budgets and ordering mass firings.
Trump has launched a trade war against Canada, imposing steep tariffs, calling for the annexation of Canada and describing America's onetime ally as "one of the nastiest countries to deal with."
A previous protest at a Lower Mainland Tesla dealership on the Surrey/Delta border attracted about two dozen people and one in Vancouver brought out about 70 people.
Tesla has seven dealerships in B.C.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Langley Advance Times emailed request for comment.
On March 12, B.C. Hydro ended rebates for Tesla electric vehicle chargers, which ranged from $350 for a residential unit to $2,000 for a workplace unit.
Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix said "I don't think anyone in British Columbia needs to be told why and I think most people would support their removal from that list."
Musk posted a one-word response on his X social media site, calling it "crazy" and linking to a post that suggested he should ban Canada from Musk's SpaceX orbital launch company and Starlink satellite communications service in retaliation.
On March 18, citing safety concerns, organizers of the Vancouver International Auto Show removed Tesla from the lineup, after the company refused to voluntarily withdraw.
In parts of Canada and the U.S., people have set Teslas and their chargers on fire. In B.C., Tesla superchargers at a Nanaimo mall are out of service after they were allegedly tampered with, causing two of the units to catch fire.
