Some Conservative strategists said there is little to take away from U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s apparent mockery of Leader Pierre Poilievre in a fundraising speech this week.
In audio from a fundraiser in Southampton, N.Y., which was provided to The Canadian Press by a source who attended the private function, Vance referred to the Conservative leader as “this guy Pierre Poilievre or something” while praising Ontario Conservative MP Jamil Jivani as a “pretty effective advocate.”
Jivani and Vance are longtime friends, and Jivani has travelled to Washington on numerous occasions, including an April meeting with Canadian business interests and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
In the recording the vice-president praises Jivani for playing an active role in recent trade talks, while dismissing Poilievre as a “nonentity.”
Tim Powers, Summa Strategies chair and a former Conservative adviser, said Poilievre is being undermined, at least a little, by the repeated trips to the U.S. by Jivani and his tightness with the White House.
“The longer Pierre Poilievre avoids clipping his wings, I think it continues to demonstrate a bit of weakness for Mr. Poilievre and it doesn’t reflect well because every time Mr. Jivani flaps his wings in Washington, there’s usually some clap back he creates in Canada because of something he says or does,” Powers said.
“That doesn’t help the Conservative Party and that doesn’t help Pierre Poilievre.”
When asked on Friday about Vance’s comments, Poilievre said he asked all his MPs to use connections they have in the States to advocate for Canadian interests.
“I told all my members of Parliament to use every single contact they had to fight for Canada and Canadian jobs. And I reiterate that to any of our MPs or any Canadian,” Poilievre said during a news conference in Kitchener, Ont.
“If you have contacts south of the border, use those to put pressure, to fight, for tariff-free trade so that we can protect our industries and have renewed access to the biggest and most lucrative market anywhere on earth.”
Poilievre — who did not make a stop in the U.S. capital when he took a trip south of the border in March — 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-American hissy fit.”
“He speaks for himself and I speak for the party,” Poilievre said on Feb. 17.
Dan Mader, founding partner of Loyalist Public Affairs and Conservative strategist, said he believes Jivani is trying to do the best he can with his trips to the U.S. and is using a key connection that he has.
As for Vance brushing Poilievre off as a “nonentity,” Mader said it’s not Poilievre’s job to be at the negotiating table.
“The role of leader of the opposition is to hold the government to account. I think Pierre is doing that in terms of reminding Canadians what the prime minister pledged and promised in the last election in terms of how he would approach these negotiations and the result that he could get,” Mader said.
“It’s the president and his administration who are negotiating for the U.S. I mean, the Democrats in Congress aren’t coming to meet with Carney and I think a lot of people would see that as inappropriate if they were.”
Vance also took shots at Carney during his remarks, including saying the prime minister tried to “out-tough” President Donald Trump.
While Poilievre has faced challenges since the last election, including floor crossers giving Carney a majority, Powers said he doesn’t think Vance playing to a fundraising crowd will stick.
“Vance is like an afternoon breeze. It blows, and then it goes. Who cares?” Powers said. “I mean, he’s talking to a fundraising audience. I’m sure he’s trying to get a few laughs.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026.
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington
By David Baxter | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.