The two men, from very different backgrounds, say they forged a friendship despite feeling like outsiders at an elite American institution, and it could help chart the future of Canada-U.S. relations.
The men are Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, who was selected by former President Trump as his vice presidential running mate on Monday, and Jamil Givani, a conservative member of Congress who was elected to Congress in a special election earlier this year.
Some political watchers say the long personal resumes of the two political novices could be an asset to Canada if their respective parties take power this year and next.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, said in an interview with CBC. Power and politics She said she was “very pleased” that Trump selected Vance, who she said is well known at the embassy for his “support of the Canada-U.S. relationship.”
CBC’s chief political reporter Rosemary Barton speaks to Canadian Ambassador to Washington Kirsten Hillman about US-Canada relations and the Canadian government’s new engagement strategy as the 2024 US presidential election heats up.
Several European DiplomatsOthers fear Vance, an openly isolationist man who has campaigned against further aid to Ukraine.
Trump’s second term According to most pollsIt would likely be a turbulent scenario for Canada, with the prospect of a renewed trade war and continued pressure on its allies to significantly increase defense spending or risk losing U.S. military support.
Canada is heavily dependent on trade with the United States and has long been behind on defense spending.
Under a Conservative government, Givani could become a conduit between Canada and the Oval Office.
Anthony Koch, a former spokesman for Conservative Leader Pierre Poirievre, said it’s a positive that one of Poirievre’s high-profile new hires is a close personal friend of the vice presidential candidate, who knows Canada and its people well.
“But at the end of the day, the national interest will trump personal interest,” Koch told CBC News.
“I suspect that both Jamil and JD are primarily focused on serving their own constituents rather than getting along with the other side. But hey, that’s cool. We’ll see.”
Vance, a self-described “country bumpkin” who grew up in a white working-class family in Ohio with roots in the coal mining regions of neighboring Kentucky, and Jivani, the black son of a single mother from a Toronto suburb, were classmates at Yale Law School.
According to Jivani, the two of them “Close friend“
“We attended a wine and cheese reception. I had no idea there were so many different types of cheese, and I had never tasted wine. Needless to say, I felt out of place. Across the room stood my classmates who were similarly unfamiliar with wine and cheese,” Givani writes about Vance. National Post Op-Ed, November 2020.
“We developed a strong friendship through our shared discomfort during our three years at Ivy League universities.”
Mr Givani also delivered a Bible reading at the wedding of Mr Vance and his wife Usha. In social media posts, Mr Givani described the senator-turned-vice presidential candidate as a “brother”.
Givani said she didn’t previously know much about “redneck” or Appalachian people, but felt a kinship with Vance through their similar personal situations of growing up in poverty, drug addiction, “absent fathers” and inadequate health care.
Givani was not available for an interview.
Vance rose to fame amid the rise of President Trump with the best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Vance’s memoir describes the struggle to succeed in a Rust Belt town where globalization has destroyed its manufacturing base and left it battered by drug addiction and unemployment.
Vance’s book was praised by critics for providing an inside look into why many working-class voters in the Midwest had become dissatisfied with their political leaders.
After the book’s success, Vance founded Our Ohio Renewal, a philanthropic organization focused on economic and social renewal, and put Givani in charge of running its day-to-day operations, a testament to the close relationship the two men maintained years after their Yale days ended.
The short-lived organization was relatively quiet and raised only about $300,000 in donations, according to the report. New York Times investigation.
Jivani later said the group’s work His cancer diagnosis — His lymphoma is now in remission. Vance’s immersion in electoral politics brought the demise of our Renew Ohio movement.
But the group’s stated aims – tackling unemployment, the opioid crisis and broken families – reveal what drives these two millennial politicians.
In a 2017 video recorded at an event in Toledo, Ohio, where Givani represented Vance and his charity, the Canadian makes the connection between manufacturing job loss in the Midwest and drug addiction and family breakdown.
Jivani called for greater government intervention through community benefit agreements that guarantee jobs and benefits to companies that win government contracts.
In another era, conservatives like Vance and Givani might have argued that a private sector solution was the only solution.
Vance, an economic nationalist; and Critics of “Awakening”And diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) conservatives are on the front lines of the fight to reshape conservatism in a way that eschews total allegiance to free markets, free trade, and so-called political correctness.
Jay Chhabria, a former political adviser to Vance during his Senate campaign, said the vice presidential pick was a reflection of Trump’s nationalist, protectionist, “America First” agenda.
“J.D. Vance is probably the best person to be on TV and work in a tough environment with a hostile host. [to] “He’s a visionary who has the ability to reach everyday working-class Americans, not just cocktail party attendees,” Chhabria said when asked if Vance was the right person for the job.
“He wants what’s best for America.”
in Interview from April 2020 On Jivani’s now-defunct YouTube series, “The Road Home,” the two discussed economic decline, disruptive technological change, the decline of the two-parent family, and the rise of China.
A libertarian critic, Vance lamented the decline of traditional working-class institutions like churches and labor unions and the demonization of civic nationalism.
Vance, a former venture capitalist in San Francisco and graduate of a prestigious law school, blamed the “elites” for ignoring people outside wealthy big cities.
“The elite business class in both countries has become hyper-cosmopolitan. If you talk to a banking consultant in Toronto or Vancouver, would they feel more comfortable dining with an elite lawyer in Paris? Or with a coal miner or oil and gas worker in Alberta?” Vance told Givani.
“There is a gravitational force for America’s elites that their interests are no longer tied to the working class of their country.”
In his victory speech in a by-election in March, Givani railed against not only the “liberal elite” within the Liberal Party, but also the CEOs of Canada’s major banks, telecommunications companies and public schools.
Conservative MP-elect Jamil Jivani said the victory in the by-election for the Greater Toronto Area constituency of Durham shows the Conservative Party best represents the values of Canadian communities.
This populist, anti-corporate rhetoric is common to Vance-Givani strains of conservatism.
In an interview with Givani, Vance said that giant companies like Apple and Google develop their products in North America but offshore manufacturing to cheaper countries like China, depriving workers on the continent of good, middle-class jobs.
Vance said the US needed to take a hard look at its relationship with China.
“We want to ensure that critical supply chains are controlled not by China but by actual allies like the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom,” Vance said in an interview with Givani.
Vance later supported President Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs of up to 10% on all U.S. trading partners as part of an effort to encourage companies to produce more products in areas such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
In a 2021 op-ed written with former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who renegotiated the Canada-Mexico trade deal, Vance said Mexico contributed to the “hollowing out” of “America’s industrial core.”
“These policies have significantly reduced our economic independence,” Vance said, suggesting further changes to the tripartite trade agreement may be needed.
But Vance’s state depends on Canada: Ohio exports $21.4 billion worth of goods to Canada each year, according to government data. Ohio sells more goods to Canada than its next eight largest overseas markets combined.
“He’s going to fight for what’s best for America, not necessarily the rest of the world,” Chhabria said of Vance. “We need to talk to the rest of the world.”
