The addition of ex-Conservative MP Michael Ma to the Liberal caucus is further proof that some members of the Opposition are “extremely frustrated” with the “silly games” being played by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, government House leader Steve MacKinnon said Friday.
MacKinnon, speaking at a funding announcement in Gatineau, Que., added that the group tiring of Poilievre’s “obstructionist” approach is “sizable” but wouldn’t speculate on whether any more of them will cross the floor.
“These are incredibly hard choices for those people to make,” he told reporters.
“It’s an incredibly personal and, in many cases, disruptive decision that a person has to make after, in some cases, spending decades or years of active involvement in the Conservative party. But they don’t like the turn. There are lots of Conservatives, I do assure you, who do not like this Poilievre approach.”
Ma announced Thursday night that he was joining the Liberal caucus, becoming the second MP to cross from the Conservatives since Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election victory in April. The defection puts the Liberals one seat away from a functional majority.
Later that evening at the Liberal holiday party in Gatineau, Carney introduced and welcomed Ma, along with the other recent former Conservative floor crosser, Chris d’Entremont, as the party’s newest members.
“You are going to have a much better time spending Christmas with us than with the Kranks,” Carney said.
Poilievre said Thursday night that Ma “chose to endorse the very policies he was elected to oppose” and will “have to answer” to his constituents.
MacKinnon on Friday said Ma is doing exactly that.
“There are many, many Conservatives in that caucus who have to go home and talk to their chambers of commerce and talk to some of their supporters and talk to people who like what this government is doing, who like our focus on the economy, who like our ability and our desire to get big things done,” he said. “Mr. Ma is in that group. That is a sizable group in their caucus.
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“Mr. Ma is a very upstanding and distinguished Canadian who wants to be part of the solution, not part of this obstruction (and) silly games.”
MacKinnon took further aim at Poilievre by comparing the just-completed fall session of Parliament with the spring session, which Poilievre missed after losing his longtime Ottawa riding in the federal election, forcing him to run in an Alberta byelection.
“(Conservative MPs) tell us how much they enjoyed the spring session,” MacKinnon said. “Ironically, Mr. Poilievre was not a part of the House of Commons during that session, where we passed — and they voted for — big transformative legislation.
“They realize, like we do, that we’re in a trade war and that serious solutions are required, and they are required every day to go through this charade of obstruction. And you see it, you know, repeating the same question 40 times in the House of Commons every day. That is a soul-destroying experience for many Conservative members of Parliament.”
Ma voted with Conservatives during the spring session to pass the Liberals’ cornerstone infrastructure bill, which created the new Major Projects Office, as well as legislation to remove federal interprovincial trade barriers.
During the fall, he voted against the government budget as well as for Poilievre’s West Coast pipeline motion that used language from the Alberta-Ottawa energy memorandum.
MacKinnon said the disgruntled group of Conservative MPs are “unfortunately” still a minority within the caucus.
“The majority of the Conservative caucus want to follow this leader, to appeal to the base, to prop up his leadership and to win their leadership review in January,” he said. “So we can only hope that some of this goes away after that review.”
Poilievre has doubled down on his approach as Opposition leader and has indicated he has no plans to change course despite the recent caucus defections, as well as recent polling from Ipsos and Angus Reid that shows him around 20 points behind Carney while the Liberals and Conservatives are effectively tied in popularity.
A third Conservative MP, Matt Jeneroux, announced he was resigning shortly after d’Entremont crossed the floor in November. He has not indicated whether he plans to join a different party.
Asked Thursday if he was confident he’ll get a positive result in the leadership review next month, Poilievre replied, “Very, thank you.”
An Angus Reid Institute poll released Friday found the number of recent Conservative voters who want Poilievre to stay on as leader has fallen from 68 per cent to 58 per cent since August, while those who want him replaced has risen from 18 per cent to 26 per cent.
Ma’s move means the Liberals now have 171 seats in the House of Commons, including Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia. If the caucus gains one more member, it will create a functional majority government for Carney, with Scarpaleggia available to break tied votes if all opposition parties vote against legislation and motions.
If two more MPs defect to the Liberals, they won’t need the Speaker’s tie-breaking vote.
MacKinnon said he “can’t and won’t speculate” on whether more MPs will cross the floor, and wouldn’t say if Liberals are actively seeking defections to create a majority.
“We did not create the situation where Conservatives are frustrated with the direction that their leadership has ordered them to take,” he said.
“We want to build big things. We want to unify our economy. We want to develop our supply chains from east to west and put Canadians and young people to work, doing all of that. That is, we think, an appealing vision, and obviously we have the door wide open to all those who want to join us in executing on our commitments to Canadians.”
Conservative MPs, meanwhile, made their displeasure with Ma known Friday.
Ontario MP Kurt Holman posted on X that he was Ma’s secret Santa and gifted him an Amazon Fire Stick “just hours before he crossed the floor.”
“Now I want my gift back, just like the people of Markham—Unionville want their votes back!” he posted.
— with files from Alessia Simona Maratta and Alex Boutilier
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