ADAMS: Jamil Jivani’s Vanity Project Betrays Our Country

Let's be clear about something from the outset, because in my line of work, and in life itself, clarity is the single currency that never devalues. Jamil Jivani, the Member of Parliament for Bowmanville—Oshawa North, is in Washington. He intends, by his own account, to “help negotiate a trade deal.”

Jamil framed this as a noble, non-partisan act of patriotism; a cutting through of the pork. It is nothing of the sort. It is, at best, a staggering act of political vanity. At worst, it is a profound moral abdication. And it is being undertaken with authority he simply does not possess.

Jamil is a backbencher. He is not a minister. He is not the leader of the Conservative Party, nor is he its trade critic. He is, by every parliamentary definition, a member without portfolio. This excursion would only be acceptable—would only be legal—if it were done at the direct request and under the explicit authority of Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Is he traveling with the Prime Minister?

Is he carrying the government's briefing books, its confidential negotiating positions?

Or is he, as it appears, freelancing? If it is the latter, then this isn't diplomacy. It's tourism. And I can assure you, as a man who has seen budgets and billing statements, it had better not be expensed on the public dime. Not on my dime.

Jamil spoke passionately of “building bridges” and his “strong network” in the United States. He name-drops his time at a U.S. law school. He dismisses critics as “frothing, elbow-waving, anti-American activists” who are worried about Facebook comments. This is where my professional courtesy evaporates. Let's talk about something that isn't a social media post. Let's talk about Canadian citizens—our people—unlawfully detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Let's talk about reports of people being held in conditions a reasonable person might liken to concentration camps, deprived of due process. This is happening, right now, to Canadians. And Jamil's “friend,” his political ally, is the Vice President of the United States; JD Vance, a man who has built a political brand on the very ideology that fuels this machinery of detention.

So here is the simple, moral test for the would-be diplomat: Where is your demand, Jamil?

You have this vaunted network. You have this direct line. While in Washington to talk about tariffs and auto parts, have you demanded—publicly, unequivocally—that your friend JD Vance see to it that every single Canadian prisoner is returned to our country, unharmed, immediately, and without conditions attached????

Or are you, in your desperate bid to be seen as a “serious” player, willing to look the other way on the imprisonment of your own constituents to get a photo-op in a White House hallway?

Silence is not neutrality. In the face of this, silence is violence. It is complicity. It tells the administration that their treatment of Canadians is a minor irritant, less important than scoring points on supply chains. You dismiss criticism of this regime as “anti-American” rhetoric?

And let me tell you something: disliking the arbitrary imprisonment of my fellow Canadians isn't an “ideology.” It is a basic, normal instinct. If that makes me “anti-American” in your book, then so be it. Print the bumper stickers. I will wear the label with pride, because it means I still have a moral compass that points north of political opportunism.

You say you're “sick and tired of the politics.” Well, I am sick and tired of representatives who confuse statesmanship with sycophancy, who think “being serious” means ignoring injustice to talk shop with its architects. You say you're doing this for the “people who want a future.” What future does the Canadian who died in ICE detention have? What future does his family envision?

I have attended Jamil's town halls. I have listened. I have yet to hear a single soul in Bowmanville or Oshawa North stand up and beg him to exercise his “influence” over other levels of government in this way. We want him to stand up for businesses in Bowmanville—Oshawa North. We want him to ensure our families are safe, and that includes safe from our allies arbitrarily kidnapping them.

Jamil took this job, he said, to do important work on behalf of the people of Durham. Here is the important work: Pick up the phone. Call your friend. Demand the release of our citizens. Loudly. Publicly. Unambiguously. Until he does that, this trip to Washington is just a shameful errand for a trade deal written on parchment that, for some Canadians, is stained with their own tears.

Do your real job first, Jamil. Prove you work for us. Everything else is just posturing.

This piece was written by an individual contributor and reflects the editorial position of The Provincial Times and Left Lane Media Group. Read our Content Policy here.