Conservative MP Jamil Jivani returns to Washington to meet with U.S. trade rep

The Front Bench panel talks about the reaction to Conservative MP Jamil Jivani's comment that Canada is having an 'anti-American hissy fit' on trade.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani was back in Washington on Wednesday with a handful of Tory colleagues for a meeting with Canadian business interests and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Canadian Ambassador Mark Wiseman was also in attendance.

The event was hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada and happened as Greer has been claiming that Canada has been a tough customer in the ongoing trade negotiations.

Jivani counts U.S. Vice-President JD Vance among his close friends and has developed connections within the Trump administration.

During a previous visit to Washington in February for a solo diplomatic mission, Jivani met with both Vance and Greer. He also stopped by the White House and said he spoke briefly with President Donald Trump.

At the time, Jivani said he wanted to contribute to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to negotiate a new trade deal with the Trump administration.

“The reality is, this is not a partisan issue,” he said in a video statement posted to social media.

Jivani’s office did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment about his latest trip. The meeting was set for Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked who Jivani was meeting with and what he hoped to achieve.

“I don’t have any information on that at this point to share,” he said. “Our MPs have been consistently going to Washington to fight for tariff-free trade.”

Poilievre also said the Carney government “should use every relationship we have as Canadians” to help secure a trade deal with the U.S.

Later in the day, a spokesperson for Poilievre’s office said that “a delegation” of Tory MPs was in Washington “carrying the Conservative party’s Team Canada message.”

That group included Conservative finance critic Shuvaloy Majumdar, foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and MPs Jacob Mantle and Corey Tochor.

“This is an opportunity to have the kind of direct, practical conversations that can help in the fight to protect and even expand tariff-free trade between our two countries. We expect this to be a positive and productive visit,” said spokesperson Sam Lilly.

Conservative critic for Canada-U.S. trade Shelby Kramp-Neuman was in Ottawa on Wednesday and told reporters she would be headed to D.C. in the coming weeks.

Poilievre — who did not make a stop in the U.S. capital when he took a trip south of the border last month — publicly rebuked Jivani following his first visit to D.C. after the backbench MP told a right-wing news outlet he felt Canadians’ reaction to the trade war amounted to an “anti-America hissy fit.”

“He speaks for himself and I speak for the party,” Poilievre said on Feb. 17.

Poilievre would not answer Wednesday when asked whether he still felt Jivani was speaking for himself.

Wednesday’s meeting comes after Greer told a congressional committee last week that there could be trade enforcement action against Canada if U.S. alcohol isn’t returned to the shelves at Canadian liquor stores.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2026

With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press