Dear Ambassador Hoekstra,

Dear Ambassador Hoekstra,

Like you, Mr. Ambassador, I am a Michigander. Although not born there I lived most of my adult life in Michigan. I lived nearly 20 years in Lansing, working for the state government at the Library of Michigan. I also lived in rural Michigan south of Kalamazoo for four years. Born a Canadian, I became a US citizen at a swearing in ceremony at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids.

I grew up in Canada but then moved to the US in my early twenties. I lived in northern California for a few years and then northern Indiana for a few years before moving to Michigan. As a Canadian I was so impressed in Michigan that everyone I met loved Canada and Canadians. It was an incredibly welcoming place.

While my wife and I have moved back to Canada for family reasons we dearly miss Michigan. It truly is an amazing state. I’ll admit I was a bit excited to hear that Canada would be getting a US ambassador that was a Michigander. Here would be someone, I thought, who, like all the other Michiganders I knew, would really appreciate this country and its people.

What a disappointment you have been, as an ambassador and a product of Michigan. You’ve been nothing but a bully and are entirely dismissive of any Canadian values.

Sir, you are not Michigander, you are a Trumplandian sworn to be an empty mouthpiece of your corrupt president. I’m embarrassed for you and the emptiness within you that would cause you to so comfortably be a voice for the idiotic and dangerous words of your president.

I strongly encourage you to leave your job and return to west Michigan and the strong Dutch Reformed community there and relearn what it means to live a good and upright life, and what it means to be a Michigander.

Disappointingly yours,
Kevin Driedger