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MP Chris d’Entremont is applauded by his new colleagues as he arrives at a meeting of the Liberal Caucus on Parliament Hill last Wednesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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.
The far more likely reason is that the MP for Acadie–Annapolis, who won his riding by only around 500 votes, figures he has a better shot at hanging onto his job if he joins the Liberals, who are now just two seats short of a majority. (Well, that and the claim that Mr. d’Entremont is annoyed his caucus didn’t back him for the role of Deputy Speaker.)
The Conservatives are justified in being irate about the betrayal, just as the Liberals were justified in their anger when Leona Alleslev crossed the floor, and the Green Party was when Jenica Atwin crossed to the Liberals, and as Tories were when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor to thwart Stephen Harper’s plan to force the Paul Martin government into an early election. It’s the worst act of political perfidy, and it brings the Conservatives that much closer to spending another several years languishing on the Opposition benches.
Opinion: Floor-crossing is not a threat to Canadian democracy – in fact, it might be beneficial to it
Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux resigns, second to leave caucus this week
Even still, the Conservatives aren’t taking it well. Mr. d’Entremont told CBC News that when reports of his possible defection were first published, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin “barged” into his office, nearly knocking down an assistant in the process, and yelled at him about “how much of a snake” he was. (In an earlier version of the story, Mr. d’Entremont claimed the two men pushed his assistant. It has since been corrected.) Perhaps Mr. d’Entremont exaggerates, but then, a Conservative spokesperson released a statement of the same brutish and bullying tone, inadvertently giving credence to Mr. d’Entremont’s version of events: “Chris d’Entremont, who established himself a liar after wilfully deceiving his voters, friends and colleagues because he was upset he didn’t get his coveted deputy speaker role, is now spinning more lies after crossing the floor,” the spokesperson said. “He will fit in perfectly in the Liberal caucus.”
Are the Conservatives OK? Do they need a Snickers bar? A hug?
Days after Mr. d’Entremont crossed the floor, Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux, who was rumoured to be crossing the floor as well, announced his resignation from Parliament. His statement opened with a plea to leave his family alone, which is the type of thing someone leaving the Mafia might say, instead of someone leaving a political party. Maybe Mr. Jeneroux is trembling out of excitement for his post-political life? We’ll never know. The Conservatives released their own statement about Mr. Jeneroux’s resignation, claiming that it was “always his intention to leave politics to spend more time with his family.” If the Conservatives had paused for a breath before releasing that statement, they might have realized that claiming that one of their candidates always planned to leave politics six months after an election isn’t a clever form of damage control.
The Conservatives can be angry and smart about their shrinking caucus or they can just be angry. They can knock down doors and brand their former colleague a “liar,” feeding into the worst perceptions that some Canadians have about the party, or they can try to show up as adults. Instead of “Check out this Brutus!” the Conservatives might have tried “We are disappointed Mr. d’Entremont has decided to join the party he recently said was ignoring the cost-of-living concerns of regular Canadians. While Mr. d’Entremont and his new colleagues pile on record debt, the Conservatives remain focused on making life more affordable for the Canadians forced to pay for that debt.” They can try to form unlikely but strategic partnerships with MPs across the aisle (for example, with B.C. NDP MP Gord Johns, whose riding has a sizable Conservative-voting population) and they can demonstrate a relentless focus on the issues, not just their issues.
Perhaps that starts with a snack and a good night’s sleep.
