The NDP is introducing legislation to restrict floor crossers, after the Liberals secured a majority government with the help of five MPs who switched parties. 

Bill C-278 would ban Members of Parliament from crossing the floor without the approval of their constituents, NDP House Leader Don Davies said on Tuesday. 

“The prospect of MPs being enticed by backroom deals emerges and the notion that only government members get resources for their constituencies smacks of the pork barrel politics more reminiscent of the United States deep south than in Canada,” Davies said. 

Floor crossing, rooted in British parliamentary tradition, happens when a politician decides to change their political party affiliation while holding office. Under Canada’s current system, MPs can switch parties without resigning their seat or triggering a byelection. 

Since last April’s election, five floor crossers have joined the Liberal caucus, enabling Prime Minister Mark Carney to form a majority government. 

“The balance of power in this House was shifted not by voters in an election, but by political operatives in the backroom holding private conversations hidden from the public,” Davies said. 

Davies said he has pushed for restrictions on floor crossing since first being elected in 2008. While acknowledging the practice has existed since Confederation, he argued the recent wave of defections that transformed a minority into a majority government has “fundamentally altered” the Canadian government. 

During a press conference, Davies was asked why the NDP didn’t attempt to persuade the 14 Liberal MPs who signed a letter calling out Carney’s rollback on climate policies to join their caucus instead.  

“I think political opportunism has gotten to such points in this place that it’s overriding fundamental respect for democracy,” he said. 

“I think what we need to do is rise above our own personal partisan interests and think of the health of our parliament to help our democracy and frankly the integrity of our voters,” Davies said. 

In April, former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu joined the Liberal caucus, saying her constituents were calling for “serious leadership” and economic action. In a follow-up interview with local media, she suggested she was doing so to help her riding access infrastructure funding.

The government denied has repeatedly denied that it provides preferential treatment to Liberal ridings.

READ MORE: If Marilyn Gladu feels she has a place in Mark Carney’s Liberal party, is there any room for progressives? 

As for the Bloc Quebecois, leader Yves-Francois Blanchet stated that his party believes floor-crossing MPs should sit as independents before running under a new banner in an election.