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Canada’s Carney is one seat short of majority after second defection from Oppn
A Conservative MP's defection boosts the Liberal Party to near majority in Canada, raising pressure on opposition leader Poilievre ahead of a leadership review.
The government of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is on the cusp of a majority in the House of Commons after a Greater Toronto Area MP from the opposition Conservatives defected to the ruling Liberal Party on Thursday.
Michael Ma, who was elected to the House for the first time in April this year from Markham-Unionville, sat in the Conservative benches in the House on the last day of the fall session but by evening announced that he was switching parties. That announcement via the Liberal Party. Ma stated, “This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada’s future.”
“In that spirit, I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door knocking in Markham–Unionville,” he added. His defection increased the Liberal tally in the 543-member House to 171, just one short of the majority figure.
Ma, who attended the Conservative caucus’ Christmas party on Wednesday, was warmly welcomed on stage by Carney as the Liberals held their holiday party in Ottawa on Thursday.
He is the second Conservative MP to defect in the last two months. In early November, Chris d’Entremont, then the lone Conservative MP from the province of Nova Scotia, joined the government ranks in the House. He placed the onus of his defection on Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, as he said, “In the last number of months, I wasn’t feeling I was aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about.”
At the time, d’Entremont also indicated that there were other Conservative MPs that may join him. A day later, another Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux announced his resignation from the House. Jeneroux abstained from the budget vote on November 17. Akin to a confidence motion, the Carney government survived that vote by a margin of just two, with two New Democratic Party MPs abstaining and a second Conservative absent due to health reasons.
Ma’s departure from the Conservative caucus places increased pressure on Poilievre ahead of a review of his leadership in January, after he led his party to a stunning defeat in the April Federal election after months of leading the Liberals in polls.
In a new study released on Thursday, the non-profit public policy polling agency Angus Reid Institute or ARI noted that 58 per cent of those sampled “believe Poilievre should be replaced as leader, outnumbering the one-quarter (26%) who believe he should stay on until the next election.”
It added that nearly two-third, 64 per cent, of centrist respondents held “an unfavourable view of Poilievre” and 63 per cent believed he should be replaced as leader.
Recent Conservative voters continued to support Poilievre continuing as leader, but at 58 per cent even that number had dipped 10 points since August.
Poilievre is expected to continue in the position and lead his party into the next election. The average span of a minority government in Canada is 18 months. By that measure, a mid-term election is likely next year. But with more defections giving it a majority, the Liberal government could serve out a full four-year term.
