Conservative MP Jamil Jivani concluded his nationwide "Restore the North" tour last week, a multi-month initiative that saw him visit nearly two dozen college and university campuses across Canada. The tour, which began in the fall, provided a platform for Jivani to critique the economic and immigration policies of successive Liberal governments, while simultaneously soliciting ideas from attendees on how to "restore the promise of Canada."
The tour’s methodology, described by Jivani as "open concept, open dialogue," bears a notable resemblance to the outreach efforts of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk. In a February interview with Breitbart News Saturday, Jivani acknowledged this inspiration, stating that planning for the tour commenced prior to Kirk’s assassination at a Utah Valley University event in September. "We started planning it before the great Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and we’ve been doing this tour since October now, very much like Charlie did – open concept, open dialogue," Jivani told Breitbart News.
A recurring theme identified by Jivani throughout his campus visits was the concern voiced by young men regarding the impact of immigration on their employment prospects. This concern was a primary driver for the tour’s focus on post-secondary institutions, which represent a significant demographic of young adults with potentially higher earning and influence potential.
A Strategic Approach to Engagement
Luc Cousineau, a faculty member at Dalhousie University and co-director of research at the Canadian Institute for Far-Right Studies, characterized the tour as a dual-purpose initiative. "Jamil Jivani and the other folks that are bringing this movement into Canada… they will simultaneously talk about how disadvantaged young men are with, for example, access to post-secondary education, but also focus their efforts on post-secondary education," Cousineau explained. "There are still a lot of young men in post-secondary education in Canada. And so this is a location where, if you are looking to target young men that have higher earning potential and higher influence potential, post-secondary institutions are still the place to do that."
This strategic targeting of a specific demographic within educational institutions raises questions about the broader implications for political recruitment and discourse. Cousineau’s analysis suggests that the tour functions not only as a forum for dialogue but also as a recruitment tool for the Conservative Party and the wider conservative movement.
Dalhousie Event: A Microcosm of Tour Themes
An event held last Tuesday at Dalhousie University’s Sexton Campus provided a tangible example of the tour’s dynamics. Approximately fifty attendees, predominantly young men and including over a dozen members of the Dalhousie Conservative Club, gathered in a classroom setting.
Jivani opened the Halifax session with a stark assessment of the nation’s trajectory. "Our quality of life is objectively declining. It is just a fact based on health-care metrics, based on purchasing power, based on economic opportunity for young people," he stated. He then invited attendees to share their perspectives on how to "restore the promise of Canada."
The ensuing dialogue featured eleven speakers – ten young men, one senior man, and one woman – who articulated a range of concerns and proposed solutions. The term "restore" proved open to interpretation, with participants offering diverse views on what aspects of Canada might have been diminished and require revitalization. Discussions spanned economic revival, with specific mention of natural resource development, the escalating cost of living, youth unemployment rates, and the widening wealth gap between generational cohorts.
Immigration as a Central Talking Point
A significant portion of the discourse, however, gravitated towards immigration as a perceived root cause of both economic and cultural challenges. The first speaker directly asserted, "Immigration is obviously the core issue, and it seems like all the economic problems we have stem from that."
Jivani echoed this sentiment, labeling immigration a "huge issue." He contended that the "flooding of temporary workers into our country" has demonstrably suppressed wages and diminished job opportunities for Canadian citizens. Furthermore, he argued that the current pace and scale of immigration pose a threat to Canadian culture.
Navigating Identity and Assimilation
The conversation took a more complex turn when one participant raised concerns about "heritage Canadians," whom he defined as "descendants of the pioneers who built this country," expressing apprehension that they were on the verge of becoming a "minority in our homeland." This framing prompted a firm rejection from Jivani.
"I will never use terms like ‘heritage Canadian,’ I reject it outright, okay?" Jivani declared. "To me… we have founding nations as a country, British and French, those founding nations have language and history and culture, and lots of people who might come from, frankly, all different parts of the world are able to participate in that language, history and culture."
However, he identified a critical flaw in current immigration policy: "Where I think we’ve made a big mistake [is when] we started to welcome so many people that assimilation is not even possible. That, to me, is the problem." When pressed by the audience member, Jivani asserted, "You are not more Canadian than I am because my father’s from Africa. And I will never let a person tell me they’re more Canadian than I am." This exchange highlights the delicate balance Jivani, himself the son of a British-Canadian mother and a Kenyan Muslim father, attempts to strike when addressing themes of national identity and immigration.
Jivani’s Background and Evolving Discourse
Jivani’s engagement with the concerns of young men is not a recent development. His 2018 book, Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity, delved into the feelings of alienation experienced by many young men in contemporary Western society. He recounted his own upbringing with a single mother in a predominantly Black and Muslim immigrant community in suburban Toronto, describing a sense of detachment from an educational system that did not address issues like racism or family structures. He also noted the allure of negative role models, such as drug dealers and extremists, and his own connection to an "intergenerational cycle of fatherlessness."
Following academic struggles, Jivani pursued legal studies at Yale Law School, where he forged connections with prominent figures, including U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance. His personal journey includes his baptism as a Christian in his thirties and a notable visit to Washington D.C. in early February. During this uninvited trip, he attended a National Prayer Breakfast and met with Trump administration officials, including Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Jivani drew a parallel between his efforts to reach young men and President Barack Obama’s "My Brother’s Keeper" initiative, which aimed to support young men while promoting justice and equality.
However, Dr. Cousineau observes a significant shift in Jivani’s public discourse. "In his book he talks about this in a much broader sense, talking about the larger social systems that create oppression and repression," Cousineau stated. In contrast, the "Restore the North" tour’s rhetoric is perceived as more "blame-oriented," encouraging individuals who feel wronged, particularly young men, to identify external scapegoats for their difficulties.
Cousineau likens this approach to the populist strategies employed by the Trump administration. "How he’s trying to engage with young people, and young men in particular, the way he’s trying to raise the temperature in order to achieve a goal – these are tactics that we have seen very recently in the U.S."
Implications for the Conservative Movement
Dr. Cousineau posits that the tour’s primary objective is to cultivate support for the Conservative Party of Canada. "I think another really important part is to recruit to his own brand," he commented. He further suggested that Jivani might be positioning himself for future leadership aspirations, especially given potential challenges within the party’s current leadership. "With a leader potentially in trouble… I don’t think it would be too significant a step to say Jamil Jivani might be somebody who is looking at themselves and saying, ‘Perhaps I could be that.’"
Ben Sellar, a member of the Dalhousie Campus Conservatives who attended the event, expressed appreciation for many of Jivani’s points. However, he also voiced reservations about the direction of some of the discussions. "But I think the bigger takeaway was some of the young guys that asked questions kind of were tiptoeing on very controversial rhetoric and issues," Sellar remarked. "Not that I necessarily totally disagree with them, but I think that is kind of a warning sign for the party that sometimes we need to moderate ourselves." This sentiment suggests an internal awareness within the Conservative movement regarding the potential pitfalls of adopting overly divisive or inflammatory rhetoric, even when addressing legitimate concerns. The "Restore the North" tour, therefore, represents a complex interplay of political ambition, demographic targeting, and evolving conservative discourse in Canada.
