Vancouver International Auto Show removes Tesla, citing safety concerns at event

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Tesla has been removed from participating in this week’s Vancouver International Auto Show over safety concerns, the event’s executive director said Tuesday.

Eric Nicholl said in a statement that the show asked the electric carmaker to withdraw because of a “primary concern” for the safety of workers, attendees and exhibitors.

Nicholl said Tesla was provided “multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw.”

“This decision will ensure all attendees can be solely focused on enjoying the many positive elements of the event,” the statement said.

The show at the Vancouver Convention Centre begins Wednesday and will end Sunday.

The automaker’s removal comes after so-called “Tesla Takedown” protests over the weekend, including in Ottawa and Vancouver, that denounced Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his role advising U.S. President Donald Trump, who has infuriated Canadians with talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state.

About two dozen protesters had gathered outside a Tesla dealership in Surrey, British Columbia, on Sunday, the day after a similar protest in Vancouver, holding signs with messages including “elbows up,” “Elon be-gone” and “democracy dies in apathy.”

Pat McCutcheon, who attended the Surrey protest, said in an interview on Tuesday that the organizers of the auto show did the right thing by removing Tesla.

“Given the temperature of the situation, there are people, unfortunately, out there that are very annoyed with the Tesla situation and the Elon Musk situation,” said McCutcheon.

He said he had heard nothing about any protests at the auto show, but said there was a “fair amount of emotion” surrounding Tesla.

“The last thing you want (for) one of your organizations is for there to be some vandalism or some physical confrontation. So, I think they made the right decision,” he said.

McCutcheon said he is organizing a protest outside a Langley, British Columbia Tesla dealership this weekend.

“Elon Musk is using his extraordinary wealth to basically corrupt democracy and do what he wants to do, and citizens, both in the United States, Canada, globally, need to push back on this,” said McCutcheon.

Last week, British Columbia Hydro banned Tesla products from its electric vehicle rebate program as part of the provincial government’s move to give preference to Canadian goods and exclude U.S. ones from rebates if practical amid the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.