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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks in the Foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa, on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday Ontario MP Jamil Jivani does not speak for the party after Mr. Jivani told a right-wing U.S. news site that Canada is harming itself with an “anti-America hissy fit.”
In a scrum with reporters, Mr. Poilievre was peppered with questions about Mr. Jivani’s recent trip to Washington, D.C., and comments made to Breitbart News that Canadians would be “shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America hissy-fit.”
When asked if he agreed with Mr. Jivani’s characterization, Mr. Poilievre said “no.”
“Canadians are legitimately upset by the unjustifiable tariffs and the comments that the president has made,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Opinion: Jamil Jivani goes to Washington … to advance Jamil Jivani’s interests
Mr. Poilievre said that is also the message he gave to Mr. Jivani when he spoke to him about the trip and the comments, but didn’t directly answer when asked if he thinks Mr. Jivani is muddling the message Conservatives are trying to send.
“He speaks for himself, and I speak for the party,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Mr. Jivani spent several days in Washington earlier this month, where he met with his college friend, Vice President JD Vance, and other Trump administration officials.
Mr. Jivani was not asked to go by the Canadian government, but was briefed by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc before the trip.
Mr. Poilievre said when it comes to negotiating with the Americans, Canada needs to focus on what it can do itself, and that includes unlocking natural resources and bringing back investment, so it has a strong position from which to advocate with the U.S. for tariff-free access.
Mr. Poilievre and the Conservatives have tried to maintain a distance from the Trump White House and its policies after losing support to the Liberals ahead of last year’s federal election.
Mr. Poilievre said he encourages MPs to use their connections to fight U.S. tariffs, noting Mr. Jivani represents a riding that has been “disproportionately impacted” by the dispute.
Mr. Jivani is the member of Parliament for Bowmanville—Oshawa North. Mr. Poilievre said there have been more than 1,000 job losses in the area related to the tariffs.
Earlier this year, General Motors cut the third shift at the Oshawa, Ont., plant that produces pickup trucks. It shut down production at its plant in Ingersoll, Ont., last year.
“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,” Mr. Poilievre said Tuesday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also responded to Mr. Jivani’s recent comments Tuesday.
“I don’t call it a hissy fit,” Mr. Ford said, dismissing the MP’s comments about Canada’s strategy. “What I call (it) is making sure that we communicate with the American people.”
Mr. Ford said it’s important to continue lobbying the Americans ahead of talks on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade, and to explain that “a tariff on Canada is a tax on the American people.”
The continental trade pact, better known as CUSMA, is up for review this year as Ottawa faces a bilateral relationship upended by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff agenda and repeated annexation threats.
Mr. Ford also said he was happy to see Mr. Jivani go to the U.S.
“No one would even know who Jamil Jivani was unless I hired the guy in my office,” Mr. Ford said, referring to the fact that Mr. Jivani once worked as an adviser to his government. “I didn’t know him from a hole in the ground.”
In his interview with Breitbart, Mr. Jivani also said “some of the Liberals have gone way off the reservation,” a saying that originated in the U.S. to describe native Americans who left the lands they were forced to relocate to by the government, which at the time was an offence.
Kimberly Murray, Ottawa’s former special interlocutor for unmarked burials associated with residential schools, said on social media Mr. Jivani’s use of that term is racist and offensive, and perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Indigenous Peoples.
Liberal MP Wade Grant, a member of the Musqueam Nation, similarly pushed back on Mr. Jivani’s remarks, saying “every week I travel thousands of kilometres away from my ’reservation’ to work for Canadians in Ottawa, and my feet still have no bullet holes.”
Mr. Jivani said earlier this month he had “productive” meetings with Mr. 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, Mr. 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.
“That’s what a trade deal with the United States promises. It promises more stability so we can grow our economy and that our country can be strong and awesome and live up to its enormous potential,” he said. “I think that’s all we all want. And that’s why I’m going to Washington.”
