{"id":597911,"date":"2026-04-11T22:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597911\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T22:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:42:13","slug":"liberals-courting-as-many-as-eight-more-potential-floor-crossers-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597911\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberals courting as many as eight more potential floor-crossers, sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers his speech at the Liberal Party national convention in Montreal on Saturday.ANDREJ IVANOV\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

As many as eight more opposition MPs are being courted to cross the floor, three Liberal sources told The Globe and Mail. <\/p>\n

Conservative and NDP MPs are in the mix, the sources said, though it remains unclear if any will make the jump \u2013 or when. <\/p>\n

The sources are all veteran Liberal organizers, and two are directly involved in reaching out to potential recruits. <\/p>\n

The Globe is not identifying them as they were not authorized to disclose internal party operations. <\/p>\n

One of the sources said they have a list of five names they are working from, and another of the sources said they are aware of three additional names under discussion. <\/p>\n

The sources all said that the efforts to woo the MPs began before the surprising move of Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Her switch to the Liberals was the talk of the party\u2019s convention, which wrapped Saturday in Montreal.<\/p>\n

Liberals wonder: what does their newest MP say about their party?<\/a><\/p>\n

She was the fifth opposition MP to cross the floor since November, and in his speech<\/a> to the convention Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney referenced the entire group as he spoke of how Canadians are rallying around his agenda of building up Canada at a time of global pressures. <\/p>\n

Members of Parliament have switched sides because they understand the importance of what\u2019s at stake, he said, speaking in French. <\/p>\n

He did not give any hint of whether more are to come.<\/p>\n

Ms. Gladu\u2019s socially conservative past has led to questions about her place within the Liberals, but both she and Mr. Carney have said she\u2019ll vote with the government on social issues.<\/p>\n

Ms. Gladu\u2019s move caused political insiders to speculate that her warm reception may give an opening to MPs who thought they\u2019d never have a chance with the Liberals, expanding the pool of willing recruits.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu crossed the floor to the Liberals on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Her decision gave the Liberals 171 of 343 seats in the House of Commons, one shy of a majority.<\/p>\n

Three of the 343 seats are vacant, and by-elections are being held on Monday. <\/p>\n

The Liberals are expected to win at least two of them, as they are ridings in Toronto that the party has held for years. <\/p>\n

That would give them 173 seats in the House and a majority government. <\/p>\n

The third by-election is in Terrebonne, a Quebec riding won by the Liberals by a single vote last April. <\/p>\n

The Supreme Court later annulled the result. <\/p>\n

Terrebonne rematch puts Carney’s popularity to the test<\/a><\/p>\n

With the outcome of that by-election unclear, two of the sources referred to Ms. Gladu as political insurance \u2013 even if the Liberals don\u2019t win Terrebonne, they can still form a majority in the Commons. <\/p>\n

Prior to Ms. Gladu, three other Conservatives and one New Democrat crossed the floor.<\/p>\n

Different players within the Liberal Party brokered each of the previous floor-crossings. In at least two cases \u2013 Ms. Gladu and Ontario MP Michael Ma \u2013 cabinet ministers were directly involved.<\/p>\n

Two of the sources said the potential new floor-crossers are being approached by those familiar with their parts of the country or their ridings.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Carney greets a delegate at the Liberal convention in Montreal on Friday.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Whether that\u2019s a strategy that could pay off is unclear. Mr. Carney has suggested that in past cases, it was the opposition MPs who opened the door themselves to joining his party. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has been the case in each of these circumstances is that the individuals have come to people they know well in the Liberal caucus and expressed an interest in joining, and then a conversation is evolved from that,\u201d he told reporters last week when asked if more floor-crossers were coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cNear the end of the conversation is when I\u2019ve met with those individuals. So, I can\u2019t tell you more than that other than to describe the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The departure of Ms. Gladu is putting pressure on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to prove he has control over his caucus. <\/p>\n

Some of his MPs have used social media in recent days to pledge their loyalty, and his wife Anaida Poilievre spoke up in his defence as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go forward. We keep moving. We keep fighting,\u201d she wrote on social media late Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we believe deeply in what we stand for, with principle and conviction. And let me tell you, my husband has rock solid support at home. This lady is not for turning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers his speech at the Liberal Party national convention…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,714],"class_list":["post-597911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}