Floor-crossing is just about the ultimate political betrayal, and the motivation of the political migrant is almost always self-serving. In the case of Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals last week, it is impossible to infer anything else.
Only about six months have elapsed since the last federal election, during and after which Mr. d’Entremont was happy to echo Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s “negativity,” which he now cites as the reason for his migration to the Liberal benches. He cannot reasonably claim that his constituents are better served by him now sitting with the governing party, because if they wanted to vote for that party, they would have back in April. Neither party has meaningfully changed its approach since spring (with the exception of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s more docile approach to U.S. President Donald Trump), and certainly not enough for Mr. d’Entremont to claim the ground has shifted so much as to justify his defection.
