Kirsten Hillman is leaving Washington. Here's what she's learned about Trump's America

If you ask Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman how to get Trump-era Republicans on Canada's side, she'll tell you a story about a stuffed bison head.

Hillman first came to Washington as deputy ambassador in 2017. She says around that time, Canada was trying to make inroads with new Republican senators. She soon met with one of those senators, but there weren't many issues the two agreed on.

"Her perspectives diverged greatly from mine, from a woman's right to choose, to gun laws, right across the board," Hillman said. "But I was thinking to myself 'OK, I have to connect with this woman. This is important for Canada, and it's important for my job.'"

As Hillman walked into the senator's office (who she did not name), there was a bison head on the wall — coincidentally an official symbol of her birth province, Manitoba. Hillman saw an opportunity to connect.

"I started telling her about that and then I started telling her about a project that we had in Canada to repopulate the American bison population, because we had strains of bison in Alberta in particular that had become extinct in the United States."

"So I had my bison facts," Hillman said.

What began as a conversation about bison later turned to Canada-U.S. trade. Hillman said the senator promised to be a voice for Canada during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term in office, and the two kept in touch.

"There's a certain level of humanity that you have to bring," Hillman said. "You have to try and find some kind of connection, and you have to know your stuff."

Since then, Canada's relationship with the United States has changed dramatically. Tariffs continue to hammer the Canadian economy, and just seven months ago Trump was making threats toward Canada's sovereignty.

Hillman has been on the ground in Washington throughout that transformation. But soon, she'll be leaving her post as Canada gears up to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in the new year.

In an exit interview with CBC's The House airing Saturday morning, Hillman was asked by host Catherine Cullen if there's something she now understands about Trump's America that she wants to share with Canadians.

Hillman said the United States is a large, diverse country and it's important for Canada to have understanding and empathy for everyday Americans.

"There are many pockets of [the United States] where people are not doing that well," she said. "They have a hard time making a living.… They don't know what the future holds for their children."

"That is very important for any political leader to understand and try to address."

Hillman also said that Democrats and Republicans are fiercely patriotic, and people in the United States "really do believe that they live in the best country in the world and that it's not perfect, but they're working on it."

"We often hear that. But understanding what that means for people helps you understand why the notion of 'America First' resonates here strongly because first and foremost, people are Americans and they're very proud of being American," she said.

Is Canada making progress on trade?

Canada is still dealing with a wide range of U.S. tariffs that affect key industries, including steel, aluminum and lumber. And there could be more trouble ahead as the U.S. lays out its demands to extend CUSMA.

Despite those challenges, Hillman said that "today is better, in my estimation, than where we were 12 months ago."

Hillman said that many of Trump's earliest tariffs on Canada have carve-outs for goods covered by CUSMA, though she added that she's not diminishing the damaging effects of the president's sectoral tariffs.

Plus, American officials and business executives have been making more trips up north in recent months, "and what they're trying to do is provide a different message on the ground to Canadians around the Canada-U.S. relationship and how they value it."

Last week, Hillman also went to a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill with the House ways and means committee, which has congressional oversight of tariffs of trade.

She told Cullen that every U.S. lawmaker in that committee said they support stable trade with Canada, believe there should be a robust trade relationship between the two countries and back the continuation of CUSMA.

"They consider us friends and important friends, not just in trade but across the board. People might not feel that every day but I feel that is important," Hillman said.

In a year-end interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Trump hasn't given him any indication that he's willing to walk away from CUSMA.

Canadian officials had hoped to score a deal on some of Trump's sectoral tariffs earlier this year, but the president terminated talks after the Ontario government aired an anti-tariff advertisement during the World Series.

Last week, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the door remains open for Americans to restart trade talks, but the next time for direct engagement on trade will likely be when CUSMA begins its review process next month.

Conservative MP offers to help

In an interview last week with CBC News, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, a longtime friend of U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, said he's ready to lend a hand if Carney calls him up.

"I really do believe I could help," he said. "I would love to be able to talk to JD about how we can make things better for our economy, but I don't want to get involved in what Mark Carney is up to, unless he tells me that's helpful to him."

When asked about Jivani's offer, Hillman said all Canadians can be of assistance and "I think trying to sing from the same song sheet is always powerful for us."

That said, Hillman noted that "negotiations are sort of done within a very small group of people, and Vice-President Vance is not at the negotiating table."

"Obviously the prime minister and others will decide how they seek to proceed with the contacts they have across the country," she said. "But I think there are different ways in which people can contribute and that sitting at the table is not the only way."

Jivani said he's offered help in the past, but doesn't want to "inject himself" into conversations — saying the "Doug Ford commercial debacle" was an example of what happens when there's no co-ordinated strategy in place.

What comes next for Hillman

As her ambassadorship comes to a close, Hillman said she's feeling a wide range of emotions. There's happiness in coming home and spending more time with her family, but sadness in "leaving a job like this which is so all-encompassing."

"I live and breathe this job. Every single day, every day, all day. I think about the Canada-U.S. relationship all day, every day," Hillman said.

She said there will likely be a "coming-down period" as she transitions out of the role, but she's looking forward to what comes next in her life.

In her final reflection, Hillman said "it's hard to express what a privilege that is [and] what a responsibility it feels like. It has made me love my country even more, because every single day my job is to either defend its interests or express its values or make connections."

"Maybe I'll be out promoting Canada all over Canada," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'm going to wean myself off of this extraordinary experience I've had."