Jamil Jivani’s solo mission to Washington has provoked confusion and consternation among some of his Conservative colleagues who want to avoid the party looking cozy with Donald Trump’s administration.
Jivani, a friend of U.S. Vice-President JD Vance since they attended Yale Law School together, paid a visit to Vance’s office in what he described as an attempt to “build bridges” between Canada and the United States.
The MP’s office has not responded to repeated interview requests or a request for a list of whom he met with. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office has also not responded to questions about Jivani’s trip.
Two Conservative sources told Global News Friday that some within caucus are upset with what they view as Jivani’s “freelance” diplomacy with the Trump administration.
It’s also not clear if Jivani’s trip was sanctioned by Poilievre’s office.
Jivani is not the party’s “shadow minister” for foreign affairs, international trade or Canada-U.S. trade. The party’s Canada-U.S. trade critic, Shelby Kramp-Neuman, also appeared to have recently visited Washington based on social media posts.
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Highlighting ties to the Trump administration is a dangerous play for Canada’s Conservatives, given how deeply unpopular the U.S. president is with Canadian voters.
Data released by pollster Angus Reid last week found that 66 per cent of Canadians gave Trump an ‘F’ grade on his first year of the second term, while just 15 per cent graded him either an ‘A’ or ‘B.’
Further complicating matters for the Conservatives is that 50 per cent of their voters, according to Angus Reid, gave Trump a ‘C’ grade or better. So a strong majority of Canadian voters dislike Trump, but a significant portion of Conservative voters have a more positive view of the U.S. president.
In an interview with the American news outlet Semafor, Jivani said part of the reason for his trip is to tell the Trump administration “we’re all on the same team.”
“I think there’s a real opportunity to build something with the U.S. administration,” Jivani told the outlet.
In a social media post Wednesday, Jivani said he had “productive meetings” with the White House and State Department – and told Semafor that he met with both his friend Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He also said Trump asked him to “pass along a message” that he loves Canadians.
“I gotta tell you I’m feeling hopeful and optimistic that we can get something really good done for Canadians workers and businesses,” Jivani said in a video posted to his social media accounts.
It’s not clear who the “we” in that statement signifies, but Jivani – first elected in 2024 – said he’s “sick” of the politics surrounding the Canada-U.S. relationship and has attempted to reach out to the Liberal government about his bridge-building efforts.
His professed multi-partisan ambitions are apparently shared by Poilievre, who told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week that his party was willing to co-operate with the Liberals to fight against Trump’s unilateral trade war.
Roland Paris, the director of the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, told Global News that he doesn’t see a danger in Canadian politicians having meetings in Ottawa.
“But that’s within limits,” Paris said in an interview.
— with files from Global’s Jillian Piper and David Akin
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