The NDP Interim Leader, Don Davies, says Nunavut MP Lori Idlout has left the party to sit with the Liberals, bringing Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s government closer to a majority.
Her departure follows the recent defection of three Conservative MPs in recent months.
“We’re very disappointed,” Davies said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
His statement says the NDP’s position is that if an MP wants to change parties they should resign their seat and run under a new banner to let voters decide.
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This latest floor crossing could help give the Carney government a majority, as the Liberals now need to win two of three April 13 byelections to have a narrow majority.
Idlout has represented Nunavut in the House of Commons since 2021, and just appeared at an Avi Lewis NDP leadership campaign event in Ottawa last Thursday.
A majority of Canadians say members of Parliament should not be allowed to cross the floor to another party and should face an “immediate” byelection if they do so, a new poll suggests.
However, Wednesday’s Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found Canadians’ displeasure with floor-crossing MPs has not hurt the overall approval for Prime Minister Mark Carney or his Liberal government.
In fact, those approval numbers have gone up since last year, with over one-third of Canadians saying they are even more supportive of Carney after three MPs left the Conservatives to join the Liberals in recent months.
–with files from the Canadian Press and Sean Boynton