Conservative MP Jivani says he’s ‘hopeful’ after ‘productive’ meetings with the White House

Questions are being asked about who MP Jamil Jivani met with on a solo visit to the U.S. Capitol and what message it sends. Mike Le Couteur has the latest.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who has had a long-time friendship with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, says he had “positive” meetings with U.S. officials in his latest trip to Washington.

“I’ve been having some very productive, promising and positive conversations with the White House, with the (U.S.) State Department, with senators representing border states that we do a lot of business within Canada,” the Ontario MP said in a video posted to X on Thursday.

“I got to tell you, I’m feeling hopeful and optimistic that we can get something really good done for Canadian workers and businesses.”

In his video, however, Jivani does not specify which U.S. officials he has been speaking with.

When asked by CTV News for more details on his meetings, Jivani’s office pointed to an article from a U.S. publication, which indicated he met with Vance, his wife Usha Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

In a separate post to X on Wednesday, meanwhile, Jivani said U.S. President Donald Trump gave him a message, writing “The President asked me to pass along a message: ‘Tell the Canadians I love them.’ I’ll have much more to say later.”

He also said he had more meetings with “(General Motors) and others this week.”

CTV News has reached out to the White House for confirmation and comment.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc briefed Jivani ahead of the trip.

LeBlanc’s office, though, tells CTV News they have nothing “further to provide” on Jivani’s discussions in Washington.

Ford on Jivani: ‘All the power to you’

On Thursday, Jivani said he hopes to bring his “insights and what I’ve learned back to Ottawa” and share them with the federal government.

“This can be the beginning of a truly non-partisan approach to working with the United States,” Jivani added.

But in an interview with CTV’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Thursday, Industry Minister Melanie Joly expressed skepticism on whether she believes Jivani can help the government.

“I’m not in his heart nor in his mind. I’m just looking at what he says and what are the facts, and until I actually said on television that he was not talking and denouncing the GM layoffs, he didn’t talk about it,” Joly told Kapelos.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, meanwhile, said the “proof is in the pudding.”

“Just going to meet someone, one would have to see. What matters is (the) outcome,” Champagne told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday.

Jivani previously served as a special advisor to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and the two have been publicly at odds in the past, with Jivani calling Ford a “hype man” for the federal Liberals last year.

Asked on Thursday about Jivani’s trip to Washington, Ford said “anyone that’s promoting Canada” is good.

“The prime minister always encourages premiers and ministers to go down and continue to work with our colleagues south of the border no matter if it’s a governor or senator or congress people or part of the administration,” Ford said.

“I think we have to continue on with the pressure, so the more people that can get down there and have a conversation, all the power to you.”

CTV News also reached out to the Conservatives for details on Jivani’s meetings, but the party would only point to comments Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made on Wednesday.

“The advice I’ve given all of our MPs is you need to fight for jobs in your community,” Poilievre said.

“Mr. Jivani’s community has been hit with a massive job loss. Twelve hundred jobs in the auto sector, and he’s going to fight for those auto workers, as all of our MPs have been doing.”

Canada has been in an ongoing trade war with the U.S. since last year, with the review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement set to ramp up later this year.

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Hanes