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Another Conservative lawmaker defects to ruling Canada Liberal party
The Liberals now have 171 MPs in the House, against 169 for the combined opposition. The majority mark is 172 and the Liberals are expected to clinch that next week as three by-elections are held
Toronto: April has again proved a kind month to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with the ruling Liberal Party now outnumbering the opposition in the House of Commons thanks to another Conservative MP’s defection on Wednesday.
Fourth term MP Marilyn Gladu, who represented the Ontario riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong as a Conservative for a decade, announced she was joining the ruling benches on Wednesday. In a statement, she said, “Today, there is both the opportunity — and the responsibility — to build our country’s strength and success with a more constructive, collaborative approach.”
She is the fifth opposition MP, four Conservatives and one from the New Democratic Party, to have switched to the Liberal camp since November last year.
The Liberals now have 171 MPs in the House, against 169 for the combined opposition. However, if all 543 seats are filled in the chamber, the majority mark is 172 and the Liberals are expected to clinch that next week as three by-elections are held. Two of the three by-elections are for ridings in Toronto, considered safe for the ruling party, and the third, in Quebec, is one they won in the April 2025 Federal elections, though with a margin of just a vote.
Carney welcomed Gladu to his party and later posted on X, “Having spent decades of her career in engineering and international business, she understands what it takes to create good jobs, strengthen supply chains, and ensure Canadian industry can compete in a rapidly changing global economy.”
While the previous four MPs to defect represented seats that were always in the balance, Gladu’s riding was always considered a Conservative stronghold. What also makes her the most unusual defector to the Liberal ranks are her social conservative views.
In the 2025 election, the Liberals captured 169 seats, up nine from 2021, and the Conservatives grew their presence from 119 to 144.
They are expected to reach majority next week without requiring the mid-term election Canadian media had often speculated about.
