Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday distanced himself from Jamil Jivani’s claim that Canadians are throwing an “anti-American hissy fit” over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and sovereignty threats, saying the Conservative MP “speaks for himself.”

Jivani travelled to Washington earlier this month to meet with his college friend, Vice President JD Vance, and other Trump administration officials in what he described as an attempt to “build bridges” between Canada and the U.S.

After he returned to Canada, Jivani told U.S. right-wing news site Breitbart that Canadians would be “shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America hissy fit” and urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to work with him and the White House on resolving the trade dispute.

Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa he has spoken to Jivani about his trip and subsequent comments.

“My message (to him) is that Canadians are understandably upset about the tariffs and the comments that President Trump has made, and that we need to focus on what we can do here at home,” he said.

“He speaks for himself, and I speak for the party.”

Jivani represents a central Ontario riding that Poilievre acknowledged has been “disproportionately impacted” by Trump’s auto tariffs. The riding includes parts of Oshawa, home to General Motors’ assembly plant that recently cut a shift and laid off some 500 employees — a move expected to affect upward of a thousand workers across the supply chain.

2:25
Carney suggests Poilievre remove his ‘fingers from his ears’ when it comes to Canadian auto workers

GM has signalled intentions to follow automakers like Stellantis and shift its production to the U.S., a key goal of Trump’s tariff policies.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

“I think that it’s necessary for all MPs to use all the connections and work that they can in order to overturn the tariffs and protect Canadian jobs,” Poilievre said. “So I encourage all MPs to fight the tariffs and stand up for Canada.”

Global News reported earlier this month that some member of the Conservative caucus were upset with what they viewed as Jivani’s “freelance” diplomacy with the Trump administration.

It’s also not clear if Jivani’s trip was sanctioned by Poilievre’s office, which has not responded to questions about his U.S. travels.

Jivani is not the party’s “shadow minister” for foreign affairs, international trade or Canada-U.S. trade.

Jivani said earlier this month he had “productive” meetings with Trump’s administration. He said on social media that he met with representatives of the White House and U.S. State Department and that the president asked him to pass along a message — to tell Canadians he loves them.

In a video posted to social media, Jivani said he expects criticism from “frothing, elbow-waving anti-American activists” but he thinks Canadians want someone willing to “cut through all the posturing” to deliver results.

He later described his meetings with American officials and lawmakers as “very productive, promising and positive.”

“I’m feeling hopeful and optimistic that we can get something really good done for Canadian workers and businesses,” he said. “Might take some time, but I really believe that the doors are open here.”

That later video came days before Trump threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Ontario and Michigan in a social media post that complained about Canada treating the U.S. unfairly on trade and other issues.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters Tuesday he was happy to see Jivani go to the U.S. but that he disagreed with his recent comments.

“I don’t call it a hissy fit,” Ford said. “What I call (it) is making sure that we communicate with the American people.

“No one would even know who Jamil Jivani was unless I hired the guy in my office,” Ford added, referring to the fact that Jivani once worked as an adviser to his government. “I didn’t know him from a hole in the ground.”

—with files from Global’s Alex Boutilier and the Canadian Press

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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.

“There’s no doubt people are trying to figure out why the separate set of rules [for Jivani] and why the freelancing, is this good for us?” one source, who agreed to speak about caucus dynamics on the condition they not be named, said in an interview.

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.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

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.

“Maybe, in re-establishing that special relationship [between Canada and the U.S.], we could get to a point where the tariff regime imposed on us looks very different from that imposed on other countries.”

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.

“My message [to Carney] is Conservatives are here to work with the prime minister and with the government to knock down these unjust tariffs and fight for our workers, fight for their jobs, and fight for our economic independence,” Poilievre said.

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.

“Because I think that everybody, every Canadian, expects that Canadian political leaders will be operating in the Canadian interest. And so, in principle, I don’t think that there’s a problem with these trips [but] it really depends on what is actually said and what commitments are made.”

— with files from Global’s Jillian Piper and David Akin

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.