- By: Barrister Usman Ali, Ph.D.
In April this year, under the leadership of former banker Mark Carney, Canada’s Liberal Party managed to form a minority government, falling short of a majority by just three votes. From the outset, political analysts warned that the government’s survival would depend on opposition cooperation during the budget and confidence votes; otherwise, the country could be headed for another election within months. Now that the budget has been tabled and opposition parties have yet to declare whether they will support or oppose it, the ruling Liberals appear to have sensed the danger, and turned to the oldest and most controversial tactic in parliamentary politics: winning over opposition members to save their government.
On November 5, 2025, Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont shocked many by crossing the floor, leaving the Conservative Party to join the Liberals. His defection brought the government to within just two votes of a majority. The move has reignited a long-standing debate: is party switching a legitimate act of conscience, or a betrayal of the public mandate?
This phenomenon is not new to Canadian politics. As early as 1868, Nova Scotia’s Stewart Campbell left the Anti-Confederation Party to join Sir John A. Macdonald’s Liberal-Conservatives. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, public anger was so fierce that Campbell was pelted with eggs at a social event. Since then, floor-crossing has remained a recurring feature of parliamentary life. Data from the Library of Parliament shows that since 1867, 307 Members of Parliament have changed their political affiliation ,158 moved directly from one party to another, while 149 served as independents before or after switching. In just the past 25 years, 80 MPs have changed sides, sometimes following leadership changes, sometimes due to ideological disagreements, and often for sheer political advantage.
Examples abound. In 2000, Quebec MPs David Price and Diane St-Jacques left the Progressive Conservatives to join the Liberals, fearing their seats might fall to the Bloc Québécois. In 2003, Scott Brison crossed to the Liberals after the merger that created the modern Conservative Party, saying the new party no longer reflected his values. In 2005, Belinda Stronach made headlines by leaving the Conservatives to help the Liberal government survive a crucial confidence vote. In 2006, David Emerson defected from the Liberals to the Conservatives just two weeks after winning election, accepting a cabinet post in Stephen Harper’s first government , sparking public outrage and an inquiry by the Ethics Commissioner.
Pakistani-Canadian MP Wajid Khan followed a similar path in 2007, leaving the Liberals for the Conservatives , a move many voters denounced as “political betrayal.” He lost his seat in the next election and never returned to Parliament. In 2018, Leona Alleslev switched from the Liberals to the Conservatives, and in 2021, Jenica Atwin left the Green Party to join the Liberals. Each case raised the same question: was it a matter of principle or political expediency?
Public opinion remains divided. According to polling by the Angus Reid Institute, about 40 percent of Canadians believe MPs should not be allowed to switch parties between elections. They argue that any member wishing to change allegiance should first resign and seek a fresh mandate from voters in a by-election. Roughly the same number see floor-crossing as acceptable but say such MPs should sit as independents to preserve public trust. As Angus Reid president Shachi Kurl notes, “These moves are often one-and-done, politically career-ending decisions for the MPs involved.”
Although party switching can occasionally reflect genuine ideological shifts or disillusionment with leadership, over time it has largely become a tool for power politics and numerical survival. This erosion of political principle has hollowed out democracies elsewhere. In India, repeated defections weakened the system so badly that the Anti-Defection Law was written into the constitution. In South Africa, similar practices all but erased an effective opposition. And in Pakistan, floor-crossing has become routine , where political loyalty is bought and sold, governments rest on a handful of “conscience-stricken” lawmakers, and such opportunists are derisively known as “lottas,” or turncoats. Countless governments there have collapsed under this “lota culture,” turning democracy into farce and destroying public faith in politics.
For a stable democracy like Canada, this trend should sound the alarm. If party loyalty becomes a mere bargaining chip for staying in power, no future government , however strong its majority , will ever feel secure again. Citizens expect their representatives to uphold principle, transparency, and integrity, not to trade their conscience in the marketplace of power. Governments are temporary; principles are permanent.
If Prime Minister Carney sacrifices principles to preserve his government, history will record this moment with a single, damning line:
“In Canada, too, power was saved ,at the cost of principle.”