JD Vance’s close friend from Canada is taking back his open invite for the vice president to visit.
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who became close with Vance at Yale Law School 15 years ago, said it would not be “constructive” for the VP to visit his Toronto-area district right now given the Trump administration’s provocations toward Canada.
Political Disagreements and Friendship
“Right now we have strong political disagreements, and that’s kind of how it is,” he said.
It’s a reversal from how he felt in December, when he accepted an invitation to dine with Vance in Arlington, Virginia. Jivani was also in Washington for Inauguration Day.
“They need to probably reconsider some of their rhetoric and their policy before coming to Canada,” Jivani said to POLITICO. “Our country should deserve more respect before being able to welcome them.”
Jivani represents a suburban and rural area that employs thousands of auto workers at a GM plant that makes the Chevrolet Silverado. People in the community are anxious about tariffs on the auto sector and President Donald Trump’s annexation threats, Jivani said.
“We haven’t talked in a while,” Jivani said when asked about the status of the friendship.
“He’s busy, I’m busy. It’s just the nature of the work that we do. Certainly, the way they’ve talked about Canada has been a problem for me personally. I’m a proud Canadian. I’m focused on my community, and we’ll see what happens next.”
Jivani was reelected in Canada’s federal election on Monday, which saw the Liberal Party return to power under a minority government. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat, and there is open debate about his future at the helm.
Jivani said he’s not eyeing the job. “Pierre Poilievre is our leader, and I’m focused on how we get ready for the next election,” he said.
Throughout the five-week campaign, Jivani had to contend with Liberal attacks that highlighted his friendship with the vice president, while accusing him of turning his back on the country, he said.
“They created commercials about me and JD being friends. They doctored pictures of us and dropped them in mailboxes in my riding,” Jivani said. “The misrepresentation of who I am, what I believe in, the misrepresentation of my commitment to this country, that stuff, was very, very frustrating.”
Having to prove he was country above everything else was tough, Jivani said, but it resulted in a much more meaningful win. This will be his second term as MP.
“People were saying: We know you, we got you, we see who you are and we’re choosing you to go and fight for us,” he said.
Jivani said he’s looking forward to getting back to Ottawa when the House returns to advocate for his community on issues related to cost of living, housing and the trade war.
While his friendship with Vance has drifted, Jivani is hopeful that soon enough they’ll be back to talking football.
“We were friends before politics, we will be friends after politics,” he said. “This is a guy that I played fantasy football with for the last 15 years. He’s now the vice president and that’s a unique situation.”
But like a lot of friends, Jivani said, they’ve had political disagreements the entire time.
“It’s just the nature of having a friend in a situation like this. I kind of just acknowledge that we’re in different places, we have different priorities. He does his thing, I do my thing. And when this is all over, I’m sure we’ll talk again.”
