Prime Minister Mark Carney greets delegates during the Liberal Party convention in Montreal on Friday.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
As Prime Minister Mark Carney made the rounds on day two of his party’s Montreal convention, two types of Liberals kept trying to shake his hand.
One, the lifetime Liberals, who’ve known every party leader for decades. The other, young Liberals, whose introduction to the party was through former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s progressive values.
Neither are sure what to make of the newest Liberal among them and what it says about the future under Mr. Carney.
Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu crossed from the Conservatives to the Liberals on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu crossed from the Conservatives to the Liberals on Wednesday, the fourth member of her party to cross the floor. An NDP MP has also switched sides.
Each floor-crosser has been asked why they want to join the Liberals, and all have answered that they are drawn to Mr. Carney and his build Canada agenda.
But Ms. Gladu distinguishes herself from the pack: She’s from the socially conservative wing of her former party. She’s voted in favour of bills that would curtail access to abortion and has been highly critical of the Liberals’ policy positions in the past, including COVID-19 restrictions and recently, a bill meant to address hate crimes.
In a news conference late Thursday, she tried to clear up her record, and said despite her personal positions on abortion, for example, she will vote with the government on social issues.
But convention volunteer George Duquette, who has campaigned for the Liberals since 1965, said he’s worried about bringing her into the fold.
Carney says Liberal values are unchanged after socially conservative MP Marilyn Gladu joins party
“I’m hoping that the tent doesn’t get too big, and that it’ll be seen that it doesn’t matter what your beliefs or thoughts are,” he said.
Mr. Duquette said he does think, though, that Mr. Carney leads at a time where people aren’t voting on party lines.
“There are people who think that he’s right wing Liberal, but I see it as he’s the future,” he said.
“People, I don’t think, are voting like they used to. I think they’re more interested in getting stability.”
Opinion: A Liberal Party in a triumphal mood finds it easier to accept conflicting values
To youth delegate Amita Chahal, a desire for stability is what’s attracting younger voters to Mr. Carney’s Liberals.
She said moments like his foreign policy speech in Davos, Switzerland, give people a sense that he is in control and will solve the problems of their generations, such as affordability.
Ms. Chahal can see all sides of the argument about bringing Ms. Gladu into the party.
Some will say it will sow division within Liberals, others will argue it is a necessary expansion of the tent and an obvious swinging back of the political pendulum under Mr. Carney’s leadership, Ms. Chahal said.
Still, she said Ms. Gladu will have to prove herself.
“If an individual says they are here to do the work for us, then that’s what it is,” she said.
“But we have to see it firsthand.”
Progressive Liberal MPs say nothing has changed.
Karina Gould, who ran for leadership of the party as a progressive, said she will take Ms. Gladu at her word when it comes to how she’ll vote in the future.
This moment finds her party in a recalibration under Mr. Carney, Ms. Gould said.
“We’ve typically gone back and forth between a more centre right and a more centre left leader,” she said.
“I think that that’s what gets the balance right for the party.”
Former Liberal environment minister Steven Guilbeault, who quit cabinet over Mr. Carney’s energy deal with Alberta, said Ms. Gladu knows where she’s landed.
“Trust me, I’ve heard her scream at me on a number of occasions on things like climate change,” he said.
“What she’s now joining is a party who believes that climate is an issue and who is still putting in place measures to fight climate change. When she joins us, she knows that this is where we stand.”
Marilyn Gladu, the member of Parliament for Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong in southwestern Ontario, says leaving the Tories for the Liberal caucus was the best move to make for her riding, her country and herself. Gladu is the fourth Conservative and fifth opposition MP to join the Liberal caucus since November, 2025.
The Canadian Press
All Liberals are keenly aware of the mathematical importance of Ms. Gladu’s arrival.
She brings the number of Liberals in the House of Commons to 171 out of 343 possible seats.
Three of those 343 seats are vacant.
Two because the Liberals representing them stepped down, and a third because the Supreme Court annulled the result – the Liberals had won by a singular vote.
The Liberals are expected to retain the two Toronto-area seats, which were left vacant by former cabinet ministers Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair respectively.
That would give them 173 seats in the House of Commons – a clear majority.
Marci Surkes, who was the director of policy for Mr. Trudeau, said the majority in combination with Ms. Gladu’s presence in caucus means Mr. Carney will need to tread carefully.
“There may actually be a ripple effect within the caucus that further emboldens back benchers, particularly more progressive ones who feel more disenfranchised from the leadership to say, ‘Well, you have your majority now I can do a little bit more what I want.’”