OTTAWA — Marilyn Gladu became the fifth opposition member of Parliament to cross the floor to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals on Wednesday, a day before the Liberal party convention in Montreal.
The MP from Sarnia, Ont. is also the fourth to quit the Conservative caucus for the Liberals in recent months.
Floor-crossing MPs have changed the face of the House of Commons since the 2025 election, allowing the Carney Liberals to slowly inch their way toward a majority government.
Here’s a quick look at floor crossings in the current Parliament:
Nov. 4, 2025
Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont became the first to leave the Tory caucus, citing a better alignment with Carney’s economic agenda and vision.
Soon after d’Entremont crossed the floor, Carney said his Liberal party was open to welcoming any opposition MPs who wanted to join his team and champion its agenda. The Liberals also publicly declared at the time that they had been courting d’Entremont for years.
D’Entremont said at the time there were likely more Conservatives “in the same boat” but they would share their own stories “if the time comes.”
He also turned heads in political Ottawa when he said in a television interview that House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin “barged” into his office and called him a “snake” for changing in his party stripe — an episode he said “sealed the deal” for him.
Dec. 11, 2025
Michael Ma, an MP from Markham, Ont., became the second to leave the Tories for the Liberals, citing a need for “unity and decisive action for Canada’s future.”
And he apparently packed his bags for the Liberal party quickly. Ma defected the day after he attended the Conservative caucus Christmas party and accepted an office Christmas gift from a colleague, though he did not contribute to the “secret Santa” exchange himself.
By early January, Ma was jetting off with the prime minister on a high-profile trip to Beijing, where Carney met with President Xi Jinping and set to work on thawing relations by removing mutual trade irritants.
Feb. 18, 2026
Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux had been rumoured in the fall of 2025 to be considering leaving Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s team, but did not cross the aisle until late winter.
In early November, he instead abruptly announced his resignation, days after d’Entremont’s defection. Poilievre declared at the time that Jeneroux would step down from his seat in the spring. Jeneroux said in a Nov. 6 statement he was not being coerced into resigning but wanted to spend more time with his family.
Three months and 12 days later, on Feb. 18, he became the third Conservative to cross the floor, averting the need for a byelection in Edmonton Riverbend.
Jeneroux said he arrived at his final decision after watching Carney’s January speech in Davos, Switzerland to the World Economic Forum about the need for middle powers to band together in a threatening new global political landscape. The speech made headlines and captured the attention of diplomats around the world.
Jeneroux also suggested his decision was driven in part by a looming national unity crisis brought on by separatist movements in Alberta and Quebec.
March 11, 2026
Lori Idlout, the MP for Nunavut MP, left the NDP caucus for Team Carney, becoming the fourth to leave for the governing caucus.
Idlout told The Canadian Press that she felt she would be “betraying” her constituents by staying on with the NDP. The northern MP said she would be a better advocate on Arctic issues from within the Liberal party.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2026.
— With files from Kyle Duggan, David Baxter, Catherine Morrison and Nick Murray
The Canadian Press
