A Conservative Member of Parliament is jumping to Canada’s Liberal fold, a move that nudges Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government closer to a parliamentary majority and deals another setback to the opposition.
Ontario MP Michael Ma announced on Thursday night that he will cross the floor to join the Liberals, saying the moment calls for unity and decisive action.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre responded by accusing Ma of letting down the voters who chose him to oppose Liberal policies, and he warned Ma that he will have to answer to them.
Ma’s decision follows a similar defection a month earlier, when Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont switched sides to the governing Liberals.
The timing also precedes a scheduled leadership review for Poilievre in the coming weeks.
In his statement, Ma said Prime Minister Carney offers the steady, practical leadership needed to deliver on the priorities he hears from constituents every day.
At a Liberal holiday party in Ottawa on Thursday, Carney invited Ma onstage, highlighting the party’s broad and expanding tent.
He told Ma, “You’re going to have a much better time spending Christmas with us.”
Poilievre, reacting through a statement, claimed Ma chose to back the very policies he was elected to oppose, policies that he says are driving up food prices and living costs for Canadians.
Ma was first elected to Parliament this year to represent Markham—Unionville, a riding north of Toronto. He defeated the Liberal candidate by a little under 2,000 votes, in a riding that has swung between Conservatives and Liberals over the years.
Earlier in November, d’Entremont of Nova Scotia left the Conservatives for the Liberals shortly after Carney unveiled his first fiscal plan, saying he no longer felt represented by Poilievre.
In response, the Conservative Party accused him of breaking promises to Canadians and acting on personal grievances.
Another Conservative MP, Matt Jeneroux of Alberta, announced plans to resign later in November for family reasons.
Poilievre’s combative political style has been cited as a factor in the Conservatives’ electoral defeat this year. He lost his own Ottawa seat, prompting a Conservative MP from a safe Alberta riding to step aside so he could contest it, a contest he won in August with more than 80% of the vote.
Polling suggests Poilievre remains broadly popular within the Conservative base, but his edge is narrowing. An Angus Reid poll released on Thursday found 58% of recent Conservative voters still backing Poilievre, down from 68% in August.
