Marilyn Gladu has crossed the floor from the Conservative Party of Canada to the Liberal Party of Canada, giving the governing party more support in a minority Parliament.
Gladu, the MP for Sarnia-Lambton, made the move as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals continue to rely on backing from other parties to pass legislation and avoid triggering an election.
Her defection is the latest in a series of recent floor crossings involving opposition MPs and comes as the Liberals sit just one seat short of a majority, with upcoming byelections that could give them full control of the House of Commons.
Matt Farrell, a political science professor at Fanshawe College, said there isn’t one clear reason behind the recent moves.
“I think looking at all of them, there’s probably a couple different things going on in terms of the incentives facing that individual member of Parliament,” he said.
He said some MPs may be trying to avoid an election, while others may feel they can have more influence from within government.
“It might be that they want to make a difference and they feel that in government they can do a better job than in opposition,” he said.
Farrell said internal party tensions can also factor in.
“There can also be tensions within a party that push someone to make that decision,” he said.
