Between his friendship with a Conservative MP and criticism of the Liberal government, the Senator Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump picked to be his running mate is no stranger to Canadian politics.
At the Republican National Convention, the former President announced that Ohio Senator and former US Marine J.D. Vance would be his VP pick in his 2024 presidential bid. Although a prominent voice in American conservative politics, Vance hasn’t shied away from chiming in on Canadian issues over the last couple of years.
During the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, Vance was outspoken against the Liberal government’s heavy-handed response to the Canadian truckers’ protest against COVID-19 mandates.
“The Canadian truckers have killed zero people and are being treated like terrorists in their own country,” Vance said on X in February 2022.
In reference to the freezing of Freedom Convoy funds, Vance pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris’s financial support for a Black Lives Matter fund, which bailed out individuals arrested at violent riots. Some of those released had previously been charged with violent offences, including murder, sexual assault and kidnapping.
“18 months ago, BLM rioters killed 20 people and were bailed out of prison by the future vice president of the United States. It’s time for conservatives to get serious,” he said.
When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that the Liberals would freeze the bank accounts of Freedom Convoy participants, Vance spoke out about what he believed to be government overreach.
“This is why crypto is taking off. The regime will cut off your access to banking if you have the wrong politics,” he said.
In response to the Ottawa police’s Feb. 18 announcement that they would arrest journalists remaining at the protest after it was declared illegal, Vance said Canada was a cautionary tale of democracy under attack.
“What’s happening in Canada is a far greater assault on democracy than anything the Left has whined about the last few years. It could happen here if we don’t elect people who defend our voters,” he said.
“What the hell is happening in Canada?” Vance said another time, remarking on the rise of anti-Christian violence in Canada after another Catholic church burnt down in rural Saskatchewan.
The church burning was suspected to be arson in the wake of media and government announcements that unmarked graves of genocide victims were found at residential schools. However, no bodies have been found at the alleged sites.
According to True North’s incident map, over 100 churches have been vandalized or burned since the announcement of the supposed finding of unmarked graves.
Vance also has connections to the riding of Durham’s recently elected Conservative MP Jamil Jivani. The two were “best friends” in law school at Yale University, according to an article written by Jivani when he was a columnist for the National Post.
Jivani said the two met at a cheese and wine-tasting event at their law school’s orientation, which they both felt out of place because of their humble background.
Notably, former Republican nomination candidate Vivek Ramaswamy attended law school at Yale simultaneously and had good things to say about the Ohio senator from their time together.
“So proud of my friend, classmate, and fellow southwest Ohioan today. We used to watch Bengals games at the bar in law school. It’s awesome we’re now here a decade later with JD joining the strongest presidential ticket in our lifetime,” Vivek said on X.
As the junior U.S. senator for Ohio, Vance has dealt with Canada as a trading partner since he took office in 2023. Ohio, the state with the third largest share of exports into Canada, makes up nearly 20% of America’s exports.
Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, said in a CBC interview that her team is “very happy” that Vance was Trump’s VP pick. She has worked with him in the past and knows that he values the trading relationship between the two neighbouring countries.
“We’re very happy to have someone on the ticket who understands Canada and the value of the Canada-US relationship. That’s a good thing for us that he has this high level of knowledge.”
The U.S. vice-presidential debates have yet to be scheduled, but election day is Nov. 5, 2024.