Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated on Wednesday that Prime Minister Mark Carney's government "should use every relationship we have" in efforts to secure a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. His remarks come as a group of Conservative MPs, including Ontario MP Jamil Jivani, travel to Washington for a networking conference hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada.
MPs in Washington
Jivani, who has a personal relationship with U.S. Vice President JD Vance from their time at Yale Law School, is among the delegation. Other MPs attending include foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, Shuvaloy Majumdar from Calgary, Jacob Mantle from Ontario, and Corey Tochor from Saskatchewan. The trip aims to deliver the party's "Team Canada message" and engage in direct conversations to protect tariff-free trade between the two countries.
Poilievre's Position
Asked whether Jivani would hold meetings with Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Poilievre said he had no information to share at this point. During Jivani's February trip, which included a brief conversation with Trump, Poilievre distanced himself from Jivani's comments to Breitbart News about avoiding an "anti-America hissy fit." Poilievre noted that his MPs have traveled "consistently" to Washington, with roughly a dozen delegations in recent years, though he has not visited the U.S. capital himself, preferring to let the U.S. administration deal with "one prime minister at a time."
Ontario MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman, the party's critic on Canada-U.S. relations, said she would head to Washington in a couple of weeks. Jivani has previously offered to help the federal government navigate the Canada-U.S. relationship, particularly ahead of the review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, leveraging his Washington connections.
