Carney says one negotiator after MPs visit Washington
- Mark Carney brushed off Conservative MPs’ latest Washington trip, saying only Ottawa negotiates with the U.S. as tariff and trade talks stay tense. - The trip was led by Jamil Jivani, and Carney said visitors to Washington “won’t learn anything new” beyond what his government already knows. - The jab landed as Liberals also faced blowback over a visa issued to Mehdi Taj, then reversed at the border.
Canada-U.S. trade talks are the kind of file where mixed signals matter. That is why Mark Carney drew a hard line this week after Conservative MPs went to Washington to meet American officials. His message was simple — Canada has one negotiator, and it is the federal government, not an opposition caucus freelancing on tariffs. At the same time, his government was fending off a second problem entirely: how a former Iranian official tied to the IRGC got a visa and then got stopped at the airport anyway. (cbc.ca) ### Who went to Washington? The latest trip centered on Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who travelled with other Tory MPs to talk Canada-U.S. trade in Washington. This was not a one-off. Jivani had already made an earlier outreach trip, pitching what Conservatives call a “Team Canada” message to U.S. players during a period of(cbc.ca)they want, but the actual negotiation runs through Ottawa. (cbc.ca) ### Why did Carney swat it down? Because trade talks only work if the other side knows who speaks for the country. Carney said there is “one negotiator for Canada,” and he added that these Washington visits have not produced anything his government did not already know. Basically, he was saying parallel diplomacy is more noi(cbc.ca) read as a crack in the national position. (cbc.ca) ### Is this really about one MP? Not really. It is about who gets to claim the anti-Trump, pro-trade lane in Canadian politics. Conservatives want to show they can build their own relationships in Washington and present themselves as useful intermediaries. Carney wants the opposite impression — that his government is in comm(cbc.ca)political theater, but it sits on top of a real institutional point. Foreign governments negotiate with governments. (ca.news.yahoo.com) ### What was the IRGC visa mess? A separate controversy blew up after reports that Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s football federation and a former IRGC official, received a temporary resident visa to attend a FIFA event in Canada. He was then denied entry at Toronto Pearson and turned back. That sequence is the problem — a(ca.news.yahoo.com)d. For critics, that looks less like a system working and more like one part of government correcting another at the last minute. (ipolitics.ca) ### How did Carney handle that? Carefully. Carney said he could not discuss an individual case because of privacy rules, but he insisted people tied to the IRGC are being kept out of Canada. Immigration Minister Lena Diab took responsibility in broader terms, saying she is account(ipolitics.ca)tical opponents got this far in the process. (ipolitics.ca) ### Why do these two stories connect? Because both are really about control. On trade, Carney is trying to show one clear chain of command. On immigration screening, the government is being accused of not having one. So the same day Carney projected discipline abroad, he had to defend competence at home. That contrast is what gives the story its bite. (cbc.ca) ### Bottom line? Carney’s line about “one negotiator” was not just a jab at Conservatives. It was a reminder that he wants to own the Canada-U.S. file completely. But the visa controversy shows how fast that message gets complicated when another part of government looks shaky. (cbc.ca)
