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Canadian politicians who crossed the floor or left their party
The Liberals announced longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is joining their ranks in a statement on April 8, 2026. Gladu is the fifth MP to join the Liberal ranks in as many months, and the fourth Conservative.
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René Lévesque, a Quebec MLA for Montreal-Laurier, left the Quebec Liberal Party in 1967 to sit as an independent member of the MNA.
He later helped create the Parti Québécois and served as premier of Quebec from 1976-1985.
Quebec premier Rene Levesque in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 1979. (AP Photo)
Jack Horner(right) left the Progressive Conservatives to join the Liberals in 1977 and became part of Pierre Trudeau's cabinet.
Horner said his defection was caused by party leader Joe Clark's refusal to protect his Alberta riding of Crowfoot. The riding didn't appreciate the gesture -- they voted Horner out in the next election.
Prime Minister Trudeau (left) and Alberta MP Jack Horner stroll the lane to Government House in Ottawa Thursday morning, April 21, 1977. (CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/Chuck Mitchell)
Bouchard, a one-time loyalist and friend of then-Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, sparked a unity crisis in 1990 when he stormed out of a cabinet meeting during constitutional wrangling aimed at gaining Quebec's signature on the Constitution.
He went on to form the sovereigntist Bloc Quebecois and lead the 1995 referendum campaign that came within a hair of breaking up the country. He eventually became premier of Quebec.
Lucien Bouchard comments to someone in the crowd as he leaves a news conference in Ottawa, May 22, 1990, after resigning from cabinet and caucus. (CP PHOTO/Chuck Mitchell)
Lapierre originally served in the House of Commons from 1979 to 1993 and later served in the Bloc Quebecois caucus. He left the Bloc in the early 1990s and later rejoined the federal Liberals.
Jean Lapierre makes a point as he announces he will run for the Liberal party nomination in the Montreal riding of Outremont Thursday, Feb 5, 2004 in Montreal. (CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)
Former Progressive Conservative MP André Harvey left the party in 2000 to sit as an Independent. He then joined the Liberals the same year and was re-elected as a Liberal MP.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien gives the thumbs up to members of his caucus Wednesday Aug. 21, 2002, moments before he announced his decision to leave politics in February 2004. Andre Harvey, left, member for Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, applauds. (CP PHOTO/Jacques Boissinot)
David Price and Diane St-Jacques were Quebec Tories who bolted to the Liberals on the same day in September 2000.
Their defections were seen as a body blow to both party leader Joe Clark, who had just regained a seat in the House of Commons, and to their own political fortunes. The latter prediction proved false -- both went on to be re-elected as Liberals.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday Sept. 12, 2000, flanked by his two new Quebec MPs - Diane St-Jacques and David Price, both defectors from Joe Clark's Conservative Party. (CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand)
The Nova Scotia MP raised eyebrows in 2003 when he left the newly merged Conservative party to join the Liberals.
He went on to have a successful career as a Grit, holding a cabinet position under Paul Martin and serving as Treasury Board president under Justin Trudeau.
Prime Minister designate Paul Martin raises arms in victory with Scott Brison, a conservative MP who defected to the Liberals, at the Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003, in Ottawa. (CP PHOTO/ Simon Hayter)
Martin came to Parliament Hill as a member of the Reform party in 1993 and, when it ultimately became part of the Canadian Alliance, made a bid for party leadership.
In 2004, however, he crossed the floor to join the Liberals. He would win two more elections under the red banner and retired as a Liberal in 2011.
Keith Martin speaks about Canada's submarine fleet during Question Period in the House of Commons Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2004. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
In May 2005, then-Conservative MP Belinda Stronach famously abandoned her party in exchange for a cabinet position under then-Liberal prime minister Paul Martin.
Her defection allowed Martin's minority government to win a key non-confidence vote and stay afloat until 2006.
Prime Minister Paul Martin shakes hands with defected Tory MP Belinda Stronach at a news conference announcing her defection to the Liberals and appointment as Human Resources Minister, Tuesday, May 17, 2005. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
Prime Minister Paul Martin arrives with defected Tory MP Belinda Stronach at a news conference announcing her defection to the Liberals and appointment as Human Resources Minister Tuesday May 17, 2005, in Ottawa. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
Emerson was first elected as a Liberal in Vancouver Kingsway in 2004 and served as industry minister under former prime minister Paul Martin. In 2006, just weeks after being re-elected, he shocked colleagues and constituents in his largely left-leaning riding by crossing the floor to join Stephen Harper's Conservatives.
He served as minister of international trade and then foreign affairs before leaving politics in 2008.
Trade Minister David Emerson attends a roundtable with agriculture industry stakeholders on World Trade Organization agriculture negotiations in Ottawa, Tuesday, March 14, 2006. (CP PHOTO/Jonathan Hayward)
MP for Mississauga-Streetsville Wajid Khan left the Liberal Party on January 5, 2007 to join Stephen Harper’s Conservatives after serving as his advisor on the Middle East.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper (right) looks on as former Liberal MP Wajid Khan to the Conservative Party speaks during news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. (CP PHOTO/Jonathan Hayward)
Former Liberal MP turned Conservative Wajid Khan, right, laughs as Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks in Mississauga, On, Thursday, January 11, 2007. (CP PHOTO/Aaron Harris)
On January 10, 2012, Quebec MP Lise St-Denis left the NDP to join the Liberals.
MP for Saint Maurice Champlain Lise St-Denis announces she will join the Liberal party as interim leader Bob Rae looks on during a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday January 10, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Then- Jonquiere-Alma MP Claude Patry left the NDP in 2013 to join the Bloc Quebecois.
Patry blamed his abrupt exit on the NDP's controversial unity bill -- which proposed that a bare majority Yes vote would be sufficient to trigger negotiations on Quebec secession.
MP Claude Patry speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday Feb 28, 2013, after leaving the NDP to join the Bloc Quebecois. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
In August 2014, MP Andre Bellavance announced he was quitting the Bloc Quebecois to sit as an independent.
Bellavance also denounced a "purity test for independence" that has taken place within the party over members' commitment to sovereignty, saying that it had made him feel like an outsider.
Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Sean Kilpatrick
Mario Beaulieu, right, has his hand raised by André Bellavance in Montreal Saturday, June 14 2014, after he was named new leader of the Bloc Quebecois. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MP Eve Adams crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals in 2015.
She spoke out against the Conservatives' tax measures for families, saying she couldn’t support policy that only benefits the few.
Former Conservative MP Eve Adams (left) is joined by Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau as she announces in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 9, 2015 that she is leaving the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party of Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Eve Adams, a former Conservative MP who recently crossed to the Liberal Party, sits in the audience as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and former Prime Minister Jean Chretien attend an event to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag, in Mississauga, Ont., on Sunday, Feb. 15 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Danielle Smith was the leader of the Wildrose Party in Alberta in 2014 when she led eight others MLAs to leave the party and to join the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.
Smith is now the leader of the United Conservative Party and has served as the province’s premier since 2022.
Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith speaks to the media while unveiling the party's policy book in Airdrie, Alta., Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Alberta Wildrose leader Danielle Smith speaks with reporters in Calgary, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Graveland
Then-MP for Beauce, Que. announced on August 23, 2018 that he's leaving the Conservative Party of Canada after weeks of disputes with his colleagues over immigration and supply management, Canada's price-support system for dairy and poultry farmers.
Maxime Bernier then launched the People's Party of Canada with a promise of putting ‘Canadian people first.’
Maxime Bernier rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Sept.28, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier speaks from a podium to supporters during the PPC headquarters election night event in Saskatoon, Sask., Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
Ontario Liberal MP Leona Alleslev made the stunning announcement on Sept. 17, 2018 just before question period, striding across the House of Commons to roaring applause from the opposite bench.
Alleslev said the world has changed since she was first elected in 2015, and she felt her questions about the Liberal government's performance on crucial files such as the economy, trade and defence were "met with silence."
Ontario MP Leona Alleslev asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
On June 10, 2021, New Brunswick MP Jenica Atwin announced she was joining the Liberal caucus, two years after her historic win as the first Green party MP in Atlantic Canada.
Atwin decided to leave federal politics in 2025 over the ‘constant barrage’ of online hate she receives.
Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, speaks to the media during a funding announcement in Fredericton on Friday July 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement, as Jenica Atwin, MP for Fredericton and Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs look on, in Oromocto, N.B. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
On November 4, 2025, the Liberal Party confirmed the defection from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, sending out a statement from d’Entremont in which he said the 2025 federal budget is what prompted him to realize “there is a better path forward” for his constituents and the country.
Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with MP Chris d'Entremont, who crossed the floor from Conservative caucus to join the Liberals, to a meeting of the Liberal Caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
On Dec. 11, 2025, rookie MP for Markham–Unionville Michael Ma announced he was crossing the floor to join Mark Carney’s Liberals, the third MP since November to leave the Conservative Party.
In his statement, Ma said he is joining the Liberal ranks because Carney is ‘offering the steady, practical approach’ needed ‘to deliver on the priorities I hear every day,’ which he says includes affordability and the economy. But on Dec. 2, Ma stood up in the House of Commons and criticized the Liberals’ federal budget and accused the party of ‘feudalism.’
Prime Minister Mark Carney raises the hand of Michael Ma, Member of Parliament for Markham-Unionville, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals hours earlier, at the Liberal caucus holiday party in Ottawa, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Edmonton Riverbend Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux joined the Liberal caucus on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.
Jeneroux told reporters it was Mark Carney’s widely lauded speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that convinced him to cross the floor.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and MP Matt Jeneroux meet in Edmonton after Jeneroux crossed the floor to the Liberals on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout crossed the floor to join the Liberals, inching Mark Carney’s Liberals closer to a majority government.
In a statement on Tuesday, March 10, NDP interim leader Don Davies announced Idlout’s defection from the party, saying he was “very disappointed” she had decided to join the Liberal caucus.
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives with MP for Nunavut Lori Idlout, who crossed the floor from the NDP to the Liberals, as they make their way to a meeting of the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is crossing the floor to the Liberals.
The Liberals announced Gladu is joining their ranks in a statement Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Gladu is the fifth MP to join the Liberal ranks in as many months, and the fourth Conservative.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and MP Marilyn Gladu, shared on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (@MarkJCarney / X)
Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with MP for Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong Marilyn Gladu in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld