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Another Conservative MP has crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party, nudging Prime Minister Mark Carney closer to the line of a coveted majority.
Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux, who said last year that he planned to leave politics altogether after his name circulated as a potential defector, announced Wednesday he is joining the government after all.
He is the third Conservative the Liberals have picked up, starting with Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont in November and Toronto-area MP Michael Ma in December.
The Edmonton Riverbend MP said in a statement he had conversations with his family over the holidays, when he reflected “on the gravity of the moment that our country is living through” and about the need to “serve even when the path is not easy.”
Sitting side-by-side with Carney during a brief photo op in Edmonton, Jeneroux cited the prime minister’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January as a reason for making the jump.
“I think it opened a lot of eyes for Canadians, Albertans, Edmontonians, just how serious this national unity crisis truly is,” he said.
“For me it felt disingenuous and quite simply wrong to be sitting on the sidelines anymore. So I reached out to the prime minister’s office and will be joining his caucus.”
Matt Jeneroux, an Edmonton MP who has left the Conservative Party to join the Liberal caucus, appeared alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday and explained some of what drove his move.
Jeneroux sent an email to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, the party’s whip, caucus chair and Speaker of the House about his decision around 10:15 a.m. ET, according to a source with knowledge of the events.
Carney announced the news on X one minute later.
In that statement, Carney said Jeneroux will take on a role as a special adviser on economic and security partnerships. The Prime Minister’s Office said it’s an unpaid role.
“Building a stronger, more resilient and more independent country will require ambition, collaboration, and occasionally, sacrifice,” the prime minister wrote.
Conservatives react
Conservatives had harsh words for their former colleague.
Poilievre said Jeneroux has “betrayed the people of Edmonton Riverbend who voted for affordable food and homes, safe streets, and a strong resource sector.”
“Mark Carney is trying to seize a costly Liberal majority government that Canadians voted against in the last election through dirty backroom deals,” he wrote on social media.
Conservative Ontario MP Michael Ma crossed the floor to join the Liberals just weeks after another Conservative MP made the same move, leaving Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government one seat shy of a majority. Andrew Chang breaks down how floor-crossing works and why, although it may appear to contradict democracy — it’s not breaking any rules.
Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
British Columbia MP Frank Caputo said he “was lied to.”
“[Jeneroux] will live with his decisions, character and broken relationships,” the Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola MP wrote.
“What do we have beyond our integrity? I’ll sleep fine, staying true to my principles while I continue to fight for my people.”
Ontario MP Andrew Lawton noted on X that the “one commonality in the statements” made by d’Entremont, Ma and Jeneroux “is the absence of the word ‘Liberal.'”
“They all talk about joining the ‘government.’ They are seeking power, not making principled decisions rooted in their beliefs or the will of their constituents,” he wrote.
The defection marks another blow to Poilievre, who despite securing an over 87 per cent approval rating at his party’s convention last month, polls poorly with the wider Canadian public.
Jeneroux had suggested he would step aside
In the days after d’Entremont left Conservative caucus, rumours swirled that Jeneroux would also defect to the government benches. A Liberal source said at the time that Jeneroux had even met with Carney.
Instead, Jeneroux — who served in the provincial assembly before jumping to federal politics in 2015 — surprised political watchers and announced he would resign as a member of Parliament. He denied allegations he was coerced by his own party.
“For now, my focus must turn entirely to my family and to the responsibilities that come with that,” Jeneroux said at the time.
Poilievre said Jeneroux planned to step down in the spring.
Since then, Jeneroux has not been spotted in the House of Commons since and abstained from voting on a key confidence vote last year.
After announcing his plans to resign, Jeneroux said he would donate his salary to local charities.
Jeneroux’s floor-crossing brings the Liberals seat count in the House of Commons to 169 Liberal MPs, against the 171 opposition MPs.
There are three vacancies awaiting byelection calls.
The Toronto ridings previously held by former Liberals Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair are considered safe Liberal seats.
And on Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada annulled the results of the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne, which the Liberals won by a single vote in last spring’s election.
If Carney’s Liberals win all three upcoming byelections they would eke out a majority.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking to CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton in a year-end interview, is asked if he is comfortable getting a majority by people crossing the floor. ‘I am comfortable commanding the confidence of the House of Commons,’ Carney said.
Asked in December if he’s comfortable securing a majority through floor-crossings, Carney said he’s “comfortable commanding the confidence of the House of Commons.”
“We’re in a Parliament, and when we pass legislation, we need more people voting for it than against it,” the prime minister said.
“Last time I checked, that’s the way Parliament works.”
Floor-crossing is a political phenomenon dating back to Confederation.
While public polling over the years suggests Canadians are mixed on the phenomenon, there is nothing in the rules preventing MPs from switching party affiliations.
The federal ethics commissioner recently ruled that d’Entremont did not violate the conflict of interest code for MPs when he joined Carney’s Liberals.
Over the years there have been unsuccessful attempts to force a floor-crossing MP to seek re-election under the new party banner through a byelection, but those bills failed to become law.
