MONTREAL — In a scene carefully orchestrated for TV cameras, Prime Minister Mark Carney and an entourage of cabinet ministers walked recent Liberal convert Marilyn Gladu through throngs of party members lined up for selfies and handshakes Thursday in Montreal.
Little more than a year ago, in the waning days of Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Liberals were gloomily contemplating almost certain electoral defeat at the hands of the Conservatives.
But on Thursday in Montreal, where Liberals were gathered for a policy convention, the face of the party looked a lot more like it did when Trudeau’s father ran it: a brokerage party made up of people with disparate views.
That, at least, was the impression prominent Liberals were trying to convey.
One day after Gladu left the Conservative benches to join the government side, House leader Steven MacKinnon told reporters outside the convention hall Thursday the party is “obviously extremely happy to welcome Marilyn” to the fold.
“Many people who live in Conservative ridings are responding positively to the kind of policies that Mr. Carney is putting forward, that the Liberal party is proud to put forward,” he said. “Obviously, Marilyn is one of those. We know there are others who want to be part of the positive building of the country that we’re undertaking.”
Supporters were all smiles before the TV cameras, cheering on the fourth ex-Tory to join their ranks.
While Gladu herself took no questions from reporters, cabinet ministers and party members defended her decision to cross the floor — despite her history of taking positions that clash with Liberal policy and her past alignment with the Freedom Convoy and vaccine skeptics.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the “party of government” should be able to host “all perspectives within Parliament.”
“I welcome Marilyn Gladu with open arms, as I have with Lori Idlout and all the others,” he said, mentioning the former New Democrat who crossed the floor to the Liberals last month.
“Ultimately, we will keep expanding and make sure we’re an open and welcome place for Canadians of all political stripes to join.”
Health Minister Marjorie Michel also said she welcomes Gladu and anyone else who wants to join.
“This is what our party is. It’s a real big tent,” she said. “If people are coming to us, I think it’s because we’re more welcoming maybe than others.”
Liberal MP Chris D’Entremont, the first of the four former Conservatives to cross the aisle since late last year, said it’s time to “put our political sides aside and actually focus on the things that are important for Canadians.”
“That’s what you saw in the floor crossings and I think that’s what you’re seeing in the Canadian citizenship where they’re looking across Canada and saying, ‘That guy’s got a plan that makes sense to me,'” he said.
Bill Kudla, a former supporter of the late NDP leader Jack Layton, ran in 2025 for the Liberals in a New Brunswick riding but was defeated by the Conservative incumbent Rob Moore. He said Canadians should be allowed to change their political views and that now is the time to band together in the face of American aggression.
“To have a stable government for four years while [President Donald Trump] is in power is extremely important. I’d rather not run again right now in lieu of having a stable government so that we can fight back,” he said.
The opposition floor crossers have brought a majority government within reach for the Carney Liberals — though MacKinnon and other cabinet ministers said they did not want to count their chickens before they hatch.
The convention kicked off just ahead of three byelections scheduled for Monday, two in Liberal strongholds. The results are expected to grant the Liberals a majority mandate without the need to call a general election.
The party is also riding high in the polls nationally. Polling aggregator 338 Canada has the Liberals at 45 per cent support.
Zita Astravas, a consultant with Wellington Advocacy and Trudeau’s former director of issues management, said Liberals from across the country are “feeling pretty good” right now.
“There’s a spring in people’s steps being a Liberal in politics right now,” she said.
“It’s not about patting themselves on the back, but momentum and energy are important in a political party,” said Jonathan Kalles, a consultant with McMillan Vantage who formerly served as Quebec adviser to Trudeau. “Right now the Liberals have it, so it’s an opportune time to get everyone together,”
Carney is set to address the convention on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET — the first time he has done so since winning the leadership.
Kalles said many at the party level still know little about Carney and the convention offers a way for them to get to know him, and for party brass to check the pulse of the grassroots.
That’s going to become increasingly important for Carney as the caucus gets more diverse and more challenging to manage, he said.
“With people that have such diverse points of view and are fairly ideological, that becomes a challenge. Most Liberals may lean one side or the other, but I would say they are not particularly ideological,” Kalles said. “I don’t know that it’s sustainable in the long term.”
Cameron Ahmad, a former director of communications in Trudeau’s PMO, said five months of floor crossers in Parliament sends “a really strong signal that the party is doing well” and shows the party remains an “inclusive and welcoming place.”
Ahmad said Carney has re-energized the party and he remembers feeling a similar electricity in the air when Justin Trudeau was first elected leader.
“There was such a breath of fresh air into the party and people felt like there was a renewal,” Ahmad said.
Liberal party national director Azam Ishmael boasted Thursday that the party expects a “record-breaking number” of supporters to attend the convention — around 4,500 members.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2026.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
