Gerrard Kaonga
A friend of JD Vance has taken back his invite for a visit to Canada and admitted there is an anti-Trump sentiment in the country.
Canada and the US aren’t exactly on the best terms right now, in case you had missed some of the latest political stories in the last few weeks.
In short, Donald Trump and his administration have said Canada will become the 51st American state, Canada says ‘naa, you are alright, buddy’ and the US continues to insist it will.
On top of this, as part of Trump’s ongoing trade war with multiple nations, including allies, Canadians aren’t happy with Trump’s imposition of 25 percent tariffs on its exports.
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As you might imagine, all of this hasn’t exactly gone down well in Canada and only a few weeks back stories were emerging of Canadians booing the American national anthem as it was played at sporting events.
Canadian politicians have also demanded more respect from the US.
A friend of JD Vance, 37-year-old Canadian politician Jamil Jivani, who went to Yale with the vice-president, highlighted the feeling towards Americans right now in Canada.
The Conservative MP had previously invited Vance to visit his Ontario constituency, but has recently backtracked this offer.
He explained that it wouldn’t be a ‘constructive’ time to visit due to the feelings towards the US in the country right now.
Speaking to Politico, he said: “Right now we have strong political disagreements, and that’s kind of how it is.
“They need to probably reconsider some of their rhetoric and their policy before coming to Canada. Our country should deserve more respect before being able to welcome them.
Jivani also said that the anti-American sentiment has negatively impacted him as his political opponents used his friendship with Vance against him.
Speaking about the recently gone April election, he said the whole situation proved to be ‘frustrating.'
He explained: “They created commercials about me and JD being friends.
“They doctored pictures of us and dropped them in mailboxes in my riding. The misrepresentation of who I am, what I believe in, the misrepresentation of my commitment to this country, that stuff, was very, very frustrating.”
Jivani also noted he too has taken issue with how US politicians have spoken about Canada in recent months and admitted he and Vance haven’t spoken in a little while.
He continued: “We haven’t talked in a while. 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.”