Revoke Tobias Lütke’s Meritorious Service Cross
The Issue
To:
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Louise Arbour
Governor General of Canada,
and the Civil Advisory Committee for the Meritorious Service Decorations:
We, the undersigned, call upon the Governor General of Canada to publicly condemn Tobias Lütke’s recent anti-democratic remarks, refer his conduct to the Civil Advisory Committee for formal review, and cancel or annul his Meritorious Service Cross.
Tobias Lütke, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Shopify, received the Meritorious Service Cross in 2018 for his entrepreneurship and his contributions to Canada’s technology industry.
Recent public statements attributed to Mr. Lütke are fundamentally incompatible with the democratic equality and respect for citizenship that Canadian honours should represent.
Responding to a discussion about public opposition to development projects, Mr. Lütke reportedly described people attending community meetings as:
“Retired, Unemployed, Unemployable, and useful idiots.”
He subsequently proposed that people receiving pensions should be regarded as dependants and deprived of their voting rights:
“New deal: when you get your pension deal it’s locked in and guaranteed. But now you are a dependent and that means no voting … let people with a stake in the future decide.”
When another person proposed allocating votes according to the amount of income tax paid—giving no vote to those paying no income tax and as many as five votes to wealthy taxpayers—Mr. Lütke reportedly replied:
“Good system.”
These remarks do not merely criticize particular voters or political decisions. They endorse the permanent disenfranchisement of an entire class of adult citizens and support replacing political equality with greater voting power for the wealthy.
In Canada, the right to vote does not depend upon a person’s income, employment, tax contribution, retirement status or perceived economic productivity. Every Canadian citizen possesses equal democratic worth.
Retired Canadians are not dependants of lesser civic status. People who are unemployed, unable to work, disabled, studying, caregiving or living on modest incomes do not surrender their citizenship. Nor should billionaires receive greater political authority because they pay more tax.
Mr. Lütke remains entitled to express his political opinions. Freedom of expression, however, does not confer a permanent entitlement to retain a national distinction without scrutiny. Canadian honours are public recognitions bestowed in the name of the Crown and the country. They should not be treated as irrevocable private possessions wholly insulated from a recipient’s later conduct.
The Meritorious Service Decorations recognize deeds and activities that bring benefit or honour to Canada. Their recipients are presented publicly as people whose achievements inspire Canadians and make the country proud.
The regulations governing these decorations expressly provide that the Governor General may, on the advice of the Civil Advisory Committee, cancel or annul an award.
We therefore call upon the Governor General and the Civil Advisory Committee to:
- Publicly condemn Mr. Lütke’s advocacy of unequal voting rights and the disenfranchisement of pension recipients;
- Reaffirm that every Canadian citizen possesses equal democratic and moral worth, regardless of income, age, retirement or employment status;
- Refer Mr. Lütke’s continued possession of the Meritorious Service Cross to the Civil Advisory Committee for a formal and transparent review;
- Invite Mr. Lütke to respond formally to the reported statements as part of that review;
- Cancel or annul his Meritorious Service Cross unless the review establishes compelling reasons why his continued possession of the decoration remains consistent with the integrity of the Canadian Honours System; and
- Publish the outcome of the review and the reasons for the decision.
A national honour cannot credibly symbolize service to Canada while its holder publicly promotes a political system in which wealth determines democratic worth and pensioners are deprived of citizenship rights.
Canada belongs equally to all Canadians - not only to those whom a billionaire considers sufficiently productive, wealthy or invested in the future.
The Governor General should defend that principle and the integrity of the Canadian Honours System.
65
The Issue
To:
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Louise Arbour
Governor General of Canada,
and the Civil Advisory Committee for the Meritorious Service Decorations:
We, the undersigned, call upon the Governor General of Canada to publicly condemn Tobias Lütke’s recent anti-democratic remarks, refer his conduct to the Civil Advisory Committee for formal review, and cancel or annul his Meritorious Service Cross.
Tobias Lütke, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Shopify, received the Meritorious Service Cross in 2018 for his entrepreneurship and his contributions to Canada’s technology industry.
Recent public statements attributed to Mr. Lütke are fundamentally incompatible with the democratic equality and respect for citizenship that Canadian honours should represent.
Responding to a discussion about public opposition to development projects, Mr. Lütke reportedly described people attending community meetings as:
“Retired, Unemployed, Unemployable, and useful idiots.”
He subsequently proposed that people receiving pensions should be regarded as dependants and deprived of their voting rights:
“New deal: when you get your pension deal it’s locked in and guaranteed. But now you are a dependent and that means no voting … let people with a stake in the future decide.”
When another person proposed allocating votes according to the amount of income tax paid—giving no vote to those paying no income tax and as many as five votes to wealthy taxpayers—Mr. Lütke reportedly replied:
“Good system.”
These remarks do not merely criticize particular voters or political decisions. They endorse the permanent disenfranchisement of an entire class of adult citizens and support replacing political equality with greater voting power for the wealthy.
In Canada, the right to vote does not depend upon a person’s income, employment, tax contribution, retirement status or perceived economic productivity. Every Canadian citizen possesses equal democratic worth.
Retired Canadians are not dependants of lesser civic status. People who are unemployed, unable to work, disabled, studying, caregiving or living on modest incomes do not surrender their citizenship. Nor should billionaires receive greater political authority because they pay more tax.
Mr. Lütke remains entitled to express his political opinions. Freedom of expression, however, does not confer a permanent entitlement to retain a national distinction without scrutiny. Canadian honours are public recognitions bestowed in the name of the Crown and the country. They should not be treated as irrevocable private possessions wholly insulated from a recipient’s later conduct.
The Meritorious Service Decorations recognize deeds and activities that bring benefit or honour to Canada. Their recipients are presented publicly as people whose achievements inspire Canadians and make the country proud.
The regulations governing these decorations expressly provide that the Governor General may, on the advice of the Civil Advisory Committee, cancel or annul an award.
We therefore call upon the Governor General and the Civil Advisory Committee to:
- Publicly condemn Mr. Lütke’s advocacy of unequal voting rights and the disenfranchisement of pension recipients;
- Reaffirm that every Canadian citizen possesses equal democratic and moral worth, regardless of income, age, retirement or employment status;
- Refer Mr. Lütke’s continued possession of the Meritorious Service Cross to the Civil Advisory Committee for a formal and transparent review;
- Invite Mr. Lütke to respond formally to the reported statements as part of that review;
- Cancel or annul his Meritorious Service Cross unless the review establishes compelling reasons why his continued possession of the decoration remains consistent with the integrity of the Canadian Honours System; and
- Publish the outcome of the review and the reasons for the decision.
A national honour cannot credibly symbolize service to Canada while its holder publicly promotes a political system in which wealth determines democratic worth and pensioners are deprived of citizenship rights.
Canada belongs equally to all Canadians - not only to those whom a billionaire considers sufficiently productive, wealthy or invested in the future.
The Governor General should defend that principle and the integrity of the Canadian Honours System.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on August 1, 2026