The Liberal party’s newest MP has a history of supporting social conservative causes, backed the 2022 ‘Freedom Convoy’ and was a fervent critic of Trudeau-era environmental policies.

But progressives within the party say Marilyn Gladu’s decision to cross the floor to join the Liberals is a testament to Mark Carney’s personal appeal and shouldn’t be a read as a sign the party is compromising on its core values.

At the Liberal convention on Montreal on Friday, Ontario MP Karina Gould said Gladu knows the party’s values and decided to join the caucus “because she either share those values now or at the very least, respects those values and the rights that Canadians and Liberal members have fought so hard for over the years.”

Asked by iPolitics if she felt that progressives like herself had a place in the party, she said the Liberals have “always been a big tent party.”

“You can just go back in history. We’ve typically gone back and forth between a more centre right and a more centre left leader. Like that’s just been the way that it’s gone,” she said.

“And I think that’s what gets the balance right for the party and for my perspective, what being a Liberal is. It’s about being an excellent economic steward, while also building the social infrastructure of this country. And it means that we can take care of the most vulnerable.”

Speaking to reporters during the first day of the convention on Thursday, Gladu distanced herself from her past support for social conservative views, saying she always supported a women’s right to choose and opposed conversion therapy, though had some initial misgivings about a Liberal bill to criminalize the practice.

The Conservatives eventually lined up to back the bill.

READ MORE: Liveblog: Day 2 of the Liberal convention kicks off as party faithful talk policy

Gladu said she made the decision to join the Liberals after voters in her southwestern Ontario riding urged her to help build more “affordable housing” and address the Sarnia region’s “infrastructure needs.”

“All I can say is that I’ve been listening to my constituents since last summer, and this is what my constituents are saying this is what they want,” she said.

Liberal strategist Andrew Perez said Gladu’s decision to join shows the party is a “big tent” and that under Carney, they are “not about purity tests.”

“We’re in this existential moment, and any MP from across the spectrum, including the New Democratic Party, who buy into this vision of Canada strong and broadening our trading relationships, is welcome in the Liberal caucus,” he said in an interview at the Liberal convention, noting that Carney has also recruited NDP MP Lori Idlout and former Ontario NDP deputy leader Doly Begum to his party.

Perez added that he believed there “were honest and tough conversations had with Ms. Gladu prior to welcoming her to the caucus” on social issues, and there are “certain foundational principles” that all Liberal MPs must support.

During a press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to Gladu before she crossed the floor and was reassured that “she will vote with the government.”

“To be clear, the Liberal Party always will support the rights of women to choose, always without question. And I had discussions, and colleagues had discussions with Ms. Gladu, about those issues,” Carney said.

Victoria MP Will Greaves said Carney’s comments on Thursday show the prime minister isn’t compromising on Liberal values to win over floor-crossers.

“I listened carefully to the remarks that the prime minister gave yesterday, and that is glad you gave to press yesterday, addressing some of her [Gladu’s] past positions. And I think that the fact that she and others have crossed the floor really shows the appeal that the prime minister and our party have at this point in time,” he said.

“It obviously shows how many other MPs feel that we are moving in the right direction. What is critical to me is that these MPs have come to us, so our party’s position on core values hasn’t changed. Our party’s priorities haven’t changed. What we are doing is appealing to a wider range of MPs, but they are coming to us to support our values and our vision, not the other way around.”

Aside from her views on social issues, Gladu has also been a prominent critic of Trudeau-era climate policies.

In 2020, Gladu called for a “science-based approach” to climate change and expressed support for a “regulatory and incentivized approach” instead of the Trudeau-era carbon tax.

Quebec MP Steven Guilbeault, who served as environment minister under Justin Trudeau, said he heard Gladu “scream at me on a number of occasions on things like climate change,” but that she understands joining the Liberals means supporting “measures to fight climate change.”

When asked by iPolitics if Gladu feeling comfortable in today’s Liberal party shows the government has walked away from climate action, Guilbeault said that wasn’t the case.

“ There’s a world of difference between where she was on climate change, and we are as a government — even I have been [at] times a critic. I have criticized my own government for not doing enough on climate change, but we’re still doing a lot on climate change,” he said.

“We’re still reducing our emissions in Canada, not as fast as we could in my opinion, but that’s still happening. We still have a number of measures, whether the fiscal investment tax credits, carbon, industrial carbon pricing regulations that are in place to fight climate change. Madame Gladu is an intelligent woman. She knows that when she joins the Liberal Party, this is what she’s joining.”