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Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested there is still “a spectrum of MPs” enticed by his brand of governing, as the Liberals teeter on the edge of a majority after last week’s surprise floor-crossing. 

“MPs are attracted to what we’re doing,” he said in a year-end interview airing on CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live Sunday. 

On Thursday, Markham-Unionville MP Michael Ma joined the government as its 171st MP, blindsiding the Conservatives and bringing the Liberals within one seat of a majority government.

He followed Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, who joined the government benches last month. 

Liberals have been openly claiming others could join — without mentioning names.  

Carney did not answer when asked if there’s an active recruitment campaign to poach MPs from other parties.

“I think that there is a spectrum of MPs with varying degrees of recognition of the serious situation the country is in, varying degrees of recognition that we need action, not slogans,” he said.

“Those individuals face their own decisions about how they can best support that agenda.”

WATCH | ‘MPs are attracted to what we’re doing,’ says Carney after Conservatives join Liberals :

‘MPs are attracted to what we’re doing,’ says Carney after 2 Conservatives join Liberals

Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking to CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton in a year-end interview, is asked if he is comfortable getting a majority by people crossing the floor. ‘I am comfortable commanding the confidence of the House of Commons,’ Carney said.

He added if MPs from other parties feel they can support the direction of his government, “they’re very much welcome.”

The Liberal leader wouldn’t answer whether he’d accept MPs who hold anti-abortion or anti-trans views into his caucus.

“We’re in multiple hypotheticals,” Carney said when pressed. “It’s a non-answer to a question.”

‘That’s the way Parliament works’: Carney

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has framed the recent defections as Carney trying to manipulate Parliament after voters cast their ballots in April. 

WATCH | Poilievre says Carney’s trying to manipulate a majority:

Poilievre says Carney’s trying to manipulate his way to a majority

After another Conservative MP crossed the floor, Pierre Poilievre pointed the finger at Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals of trying to manipulate their way to a majority government.

“My message to Mark Carney is that you want a costly majority government to drive up taxes and deficits, then you have to go to the Canadian people and have them vote for it, not do it by dirty backroom deals,” the Conservative leader told CBC News on Sunday.

Asked if he’s comfortable securing a majority through floor-crossings, Carney said he’s “comfortable commanding the confidence of the House of Commons.”  

“We’re in a Parliament, and when we pass legislation, we need more people voting for it than against it,” the prime minister said.

“Last time I checked, that’s the way Parliament works.” 

WATCH | ‘Spectrum of MPs’ face their own decision about joining Liberals:

Carney says opposition MPs are ‘very much welcome’ if they want to join Liberals

When asked whether the Liberals are actively recruiting opposition MPs, Prime Minister Mark Carney told CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that he thinks ‘there is a spectrum of MPs with varying degrees of recognition of the serious situation the country is in.’

Floor-crossing is often met with outrage and public polling over the years suggests Canadians are mixed on the phenomenon. But there is nothing in the rules preventing MPs from switching party affiliation. 

The federal ethics commissioner recently ruled that d’Entremont did not violate the conflict of interest code for MPs when he joined Carney’s Liberals.

Chatter about a potential, even if hypothetical, majority government comes at the end of Carney’s first year in politics. He joined the fray in January after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down, securing the the Liberal leadership and then winning the general election — which was largely focused on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

But Carney’s government has struggled at times to advance its agenda through Parliament and was brought to the brink of a holiday election when a vote on the budget narrowly passed in November. Ultimately four opposition MPs, two Conservatives and two New Democrats, abstained during the confidence vote. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also voted in favour of the budget.

The House of Commons wrapped up the fall sitting last week after passing a handful of bills, but with some key pieces of legislation still working their way through.

You can watch more of the year-end interview with Prime Minister Mark Carney this Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live beginning at 10 a.m. ET and the full interview on Thursday, Dec. 25 at 10:30 a.m. ET.