Are politics fraying the ties that bind one Canadian MP to the U.S. VP?

Canadian MP Jamil Jivani went to Yale Law School with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, read a Bible verse at his wedding and has run a fantasy football league with him for the better part of 10 years.

But politics may be fraying the ties that bind the two men.

Mr. Vance is part of an administration that wants to annex Canada, and Mr. Jivani is a rising star in the Conservative Party, which, like the governing Liberals, is determined not to let that happen.

At a recent local Conservative event in Cornwall, Ont., he was asked by a member of the crowd whether he’d spoken to his friend in the White House about the latest threats from the Trump administration. But Mr. Jivani said they don’t talk shop.

“Mostly when we talk, it is about family stuff,” Mr. Jivani said, according to a recording of the event obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Mr. Jivani added that he knows Mr. Vance’s mother, his wife and his kids.

“It’s like one of the weird parts of your friend becoming the vice-president is that you can’t really forget about all of the personal stuff,” he said. “I don’t really talk politics with him very much. I never have.”

Mr. Jivani did meet with Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. in the fall and Mr. Vance was discussed, a government source said. The Globe is not identifying the source as they were not authorized to divulge the meeting took place.

The MP, who represents the riding of Durham – the home of many workers in Canada’s auto sector – had lunch with Mr. Vance in Washington just days after the U.S. election.

He met with him again in December, posting a photo to social media of the get-together – which included the Leader of the British Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch.

“Thanks to the VP-elect and @KemiBadenoch for a great conversation in DC,” he wrote in the caption.

In the wake of that photo, Mr. Jivani put out a statement that Mr. Vance was well aware of his views.

“I have expressed to him that Canada is America’s best friend and ally, and a reliable trade and security partner. I’ve shared feedback from Canadian businesses and workers, including those in my constituency, about the impact tariffs would have on our economy,” the statement said.

“I have also expressed to him things that I have heard from constituents about the Canada-U.S. border and the need to work together to protect our collective security.”

What contact the two have had since the trade war began in earnest after Donald Trump’s inauguration is unclear. Mr. Jivani did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office had no comment.

In his opening remarks to the Cornwall event on March 5, Mr. Jivani disclosed the two men’s football league and then offered up his own perspective on the current tensions.

“I think we need to just fight for our country,” he said, praising the policies – like investment in the military and border security – announced by his party’s Leader as the things Canada requires.

“We cannot be bullied and pushed around and a lot of what’s happened with the tariff issue, in my view, is a gut check for us,” Mr. Jivani said.

In response to a question from the audience about what Mr. Trump might be looking for, Mr. Jivani said he wasn’t sure – and didn’t think Mr. Trump knows either, a response that elicited chuckles from the crowd.

“I don’t say that to make fun of it. I’m just being straight up with you,” Mr. Jivani said, citing the inconsistency between Mr. Trump promising during the election that he was going to bring jobs back to the American auto sector but then exempting that sector from tariffs. On Tuesday, however, Mr. Trump said auto tariffs were back on the table.

The situation has Canada on a frustrating roller coaster, Mr. Jivani said, where every two days the country is scrambling to figure out what Mr. Trump is doing.

“And I hate that for us,” he said. “I hate that it feels we’re being tethered to this one man’s meanderings publicly.”