Boosted Liberals claim other Conservatives could defect, blame Poilievre's leadership

Heartened after pick up another fellow member in a surprisal floor-crossing, Liberals claimed fri thither are other Conservative MPs increasingly disgruntled with Leader Pierre Poilievre who could soon be joining Prime Minister Mark Carney's ranks.

The finance minister said that some in the Opposition "don't want to oppose" just for the sake of fighting the government at every turn.

"My sense is that some are at unease with this situation," he said.

Speaking Friday at a high-speed rail announcement, government House leader Steven MacKinnon told reporters he's spoken to other Conservative MPs who are unhappy with their party.

"There are lots of Conservatives, I assure you, who do not like Poilievre's approach," he said.

"You have seen two to date. There are others, for sure. Others exist." 

Their comments came just hours after Greater Toronto Area MP Michael Ma announced he was leaving the Conservative caucus and joining the Liberals, bringing a shocking end to an already eventful fall sitting. It marks the second floor-crossing in as many months.

Ma's move brings the Liberals up to 171 seats in the House, one shy of a majority government. 

Liberal House leader asked about floor-crossing, suggests 'there are others’ but offers no names

MacKinnon, who plays a key role in stickhandling the government's day-to-day affairs, alleged he and his colleagues have spoken to Conservatives who are "extremely frustrated with the leadership of their party" and "extremely frustrated with the small games and the obstruction" in the House.

He described them as representing a "minority" in the party.

MacKinnon wouldn't bite on questions about who he has been talking to or whether his party is courting more MPs to secure a majority for when Parliament resumes in the new year.

"These are incredibly hard choices for those people to make, so I don't want to speculate," MacKinnon said.

The Liberals are keen to make the floor-crossing an attack on their main rival, Poilievre, whose leadership is up for review next month. He still enjoys confidence from a large swath of Conservatives in Canada.

Responding to MacKinnon's comments, the Conservatives accused Carney of "running a government like a shady backroom dealmaker rather than a principled leader."

"Michael Ma has rejected his community who voted for a Conservative vision of hope — one that opposes the Liberal policies driving up the cost of food, housing and everything else. He will need to answer to them," said the party in a statement.

"Mark Carney’s contempt for Canadians who elected a minority government cannot be any clearer. "

Ma wrote in a statement Thursday night that he made his decision after listening to constituents in his riding.

"This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada's future," Ma wrote. "In that spirit, I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door-knocking in Markham-Unionville."

Conservatives have been quick to point out Ma had attended the Conservative holiday party Wednesday, just hours before marking the switch, and had voted against Liberal policies in the House this week.

PM Carney introduces new Liberal MP Michael Ma at holiday party

Champagne and MacKinnon brushed off questions about Ma's integrity.

"What matters at the end of the day is that he made the choice to join the Liberal Party," said the finance minister.

Sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was involved in bringing Ma over. The cabinet minister, who represents a neighbouring riding, befriended Ma in the late spring and early summer while attending events in Markham, the sources said.

Conservatives said they were blindsided by the move and had believed they had clamped down on floor-crossers after their rough start to November.

Poilievre posted on social media that Ma had turned his back on voters who sent him to Ottawa as a Conservative. 

"The people he let down the most are the ones who elected him to fight for an affordable future. He will have to answer to them," he said.

Another Conservative crosses, leaving Liberals 1 seat shy of majority

Parry Sound-Muskoka Conservative MP Scott Aitchison said he is "incredibly disappointed" in Ma's decision to "betray his team and the people who went to the polls mere months ago."

"When you join a team, you work as a team. If you have a problem with your team, you work it out with your team," Aitchison said. 

London-Fanshawe Conservative Kurt Holman posted on social media that he was Ma's secret Santa.

"I gave him an Amazon Fire Stick just hours before he crossed the floor. Now I want my gift back, just like the people of Markham-Unionville want their votes back!" he quipped. 

Conservative leadership ‘barged’ into office, yelled at me: Chris d’Entremont

The Conservative Party lost its foothold in Nova Scotia when Chris d'Entremont left the party to join the government benches last month. 

Explaining his decision to leave, d'Entremont said he was no longer "aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about." 

At the time, d'Entremont hinted there were other Conservative MPs who "are in the same boat."

Carney also hinted others could follow.

That put focus on Conservative Matt Jeneroux.

After a flurry of rumours that he was considering crossing the floor, the Alberta MP announced in early November that he would be leaving politics altogether. Jeneroux hasn't officially resigned but hasn't voted since his announcement.

Jeneroux said coercion played no role in his decision to leave federal politics.

Ma, a first-time MP, won his riding in April by about three percentage points.

Markham-Unionville had previously been held by Liberal Paul Chiang, who was set to run for re-election in the spring — but withdrew from the race over comments he made suggesting that another Conservative candidate could be turned over to the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.

Floor-crossing is as old as Confederation, with public polling in recent years suggesting Canadians are mixed on the controversial phenomenon.

There have been unsuccessful attempts to force a floor-crossing MP to seek re-election under the new party banner, but those bills failed to become law.

Over the years, hundreds of MPs have changed affiliations — some sit as an Independent or start their own party, while other high-profile cases involve joining their former rivals.

In 2018, the Opposition Conservatives welcomed Leona Alleslev. She left the governing party, condemning then prime minister Justin Trudeau's leadership. She was re-elected the next year but was defeated in the 2021 election.

One the most memorable floor-crossings in Canadian history belongs to Belinda Stronach, who not only joined the Liberals in 2005, a year after vying for the Conservative leadership, but ended a relationship in the process.

The next year saw another highly controversial switch. 

Just days after winning the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway as a Liberal in the 2006 general election, David Emerson switched parties and joined Stephen Harper's Conservative cabinet. 

Emerson argued joining government was the best way to serve his constituents. But the decision led to a chorus of outrage from Liberals and triggered an investigation from the ethics commissioner's office.

The commissioner, Bernard Shapiro at the time, found neither Emerson nor Harper contravened the Conflict of Interest Act. But his report suggested Canadians' "discontent" when it happens should be taken seriously.

"Fairly or unfairly, this particular instance has given many citizens a sense that their vote — the cornerstone of our democratic system — was somehow devalued, if not betrayed," Shapiro wrote.

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