What happens when a political leader is both deeply admired and deeply disliked? As Parliament breaks for the week, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and his team may get a brief pause from the daily political grind, but the core of his public image is already well defined. He inspires intense loyalty among his supporters and equally intense opposition from his critics. It’s a divide that’s become impossible to ignore in the past week.
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.
While the focus last week was on how Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s budget will affect Canadians’ pocketbooks, the top issues “keeping them up at night” involve deep concerns about the country’s future, according to Frank Graves, founder and president of Ekos Research Associates Inc., based on the results of a recent Ekos poll.
In the late October survey involving 1,581 respondents presented with a set of 10 choices, 70 per cent identified “growing political and ideological polarization” as their top issue of concern. Next, at 67 per cent, was the “acute decline of our democratic and public institutions.” The poll results were released on Oct. 29.
OTTAWA — On budget day, Ottawa’s reporters were sequestered in the traditional lock-up, combing through hundreds of pages, when Politico detonated a perfectly timed scoop: Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont was weighing a jump to Mark Carney’s Liberals. Within hours, he crossed, moving the government to within two seats of a majority — one that would guarantee Carney’s hold on power until 2029 — without Canadians casting a single ballot.
Andy Rooney once said that “numbers are the most certain things we have.” That can absolutely be true, and the one certainty about the numbers of the current Parliament is the baked-in uncertainty given the events of the past week.
Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont says the barging into his office and yelling from Conservative Party leadership “sealed the deal” on his choice to cross the floor of the House of Commons to the Liberals this week.
After d’Entremont’s musings over a possible defection were reported by Politico on Tuesday, the MP says Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin “barged” into his office, pushed open the door — almost knocking down his assistant — and yelled at him about “how much of a snake” he was.
Some dare call it bullshit.
With one MP already gone to the Liberals, another one resigning, and more rumoured to be leaving the Conservative fold, the rapidly shifting political landscape ahead of Pierre Poilievre’s upcoming leadership review would weaken his position in a vote he was once expected to win with more than 80 per cent support, say Conservative MPs and former senior Conservatives.
“Things are crumbling,” said a senior Conservative in a not-for-attribution interview with The Hill Times. “It will be very hard for him to hang on. We’ll see.”
I think this is more media hype than substance.
Chris d’Entremont and Matt Jeneroux have walked out of the Conservative caucus. D’Entremont made the cynical walk over to the Liberals while Jeneroux just quit, only a little more than six months after winning re-election in his Edmonton Riverview riding in the April general election.
OTTAWA—The dramatic defection of a Nova Scotia Conservative MP to the Liberals, and the looming exit of another Tory, capped a week of political intrigue that ended with Mark Carney’s government surviving two big budget challenges and still facing a third, but saw bigger questions swirling around Pierre Poilievre’s grip on his own caucus.
As many as 10 to 15 MPs in Poilievre’s caucus are “very frustrated” with him and his senior leadership team, according to one source with knowledge of internal Conservative caucus dynamics. Another suggested “several” MPs have concerns, but many other Conservatives, and Poilievre’s senior leadership team, are closing ranks to insist Poilievre’s leadership is secure.
This reads like a Star wish dream.
Dumping embattled leader Pierre Poilievre would not necessarily be an electoral panacea for the opposition Conservatives, a new poll suggests.
According to a new Abacus Data survey for the Star, conducted before the defection to the Liberals of one Tory MP and the surprise resignation of another, Poilievre tested better than any other potential leader, including Premier Doug Ford.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government was elected just a few seats shy of a majority, meaning the Liberals will need the co-operation of one of the opposition parties to pass their budget.
The budget is considered a confidence vote, meaning the government will fall if it fails to pass and Canada would be heading for a second election this year.
While the Liberals gained an extra vote on the same day the budget dropped, — via former Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont crossing the floor — the Liberals are still a couple votes short of a majority in the House.
Sure, Fitch Ratings, a major international credit agency, has issued a warning about Canada’s out-of-control debt and spending, but let’s talk about the Conservative Party.
Official Ottawa is in an out-of-control frenzy, not due to the out-of-control spending of the Carney Liberal government but over the comings and goings of Conservative MPs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget has accomplished a near-impossible feat in Ottawa.
It has united every opposition party across the political spectrum in an outright rejection.
The Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois, the NDP, and the Greens have all declared they will vote against the fiscal plan, branding it as costly, directionless, and profoundly out of touch with the needs of Canadians.
There’s a spectrum of terms used to describe MPs who cross the floor. But history shows us there’s one word that doesn’t always stick when Canadian politicians shed one party affiliation for another: re-electable.
Jaws dropped in Ottawa following the revelation that longtime Conservative Chris d’Entremont is joining the federal Liberal caucus — with Prime Minister Mark Carney hinting others could follow.
Floor-crossing is a political phenomenon dating back to Confederation. But a dive into the record books shows it has increasingly come at an electoral price.
If Canada’s track record in appeasing terrorists is any indication, no good can come out of the federal government’s recognition of a Palestinian state. The last time Canada’s leaders rewarded terrorism, we almost lost the country.
We’ve never discussed this aspect of our constitutional history. For some odd reason, it doesn’t seem to be a subject anyone wants to broach, let alone debate in the marketplace of ideas. Verboten. Hands off. And I’m wondering whether this lack of discussion led to Prime Minister Carney making an inadequately informed decision.
