Carney had already welcomed two former Conservative MPs to the government side of the House of Commons — Chris d'Entremont in November, then Michael Ma in December. "Mark Carney is trying to seize a costly Liberal majority government that Canadians voted against in the last election through dirty backroom deals," he wrote in a social-media post. Cynically, one might have wondered whether Poilievre's recent enthusiasm for collaboration was inspired, at least in part, by a simple desire to avoid an election. As evidenced by the dismissive, even angry, messages posted to social-media by Conservative MPs on Wednesday, another defection might act to galvanize some Conservatives. But it seems that even among the remaining Conservative MPs there is a certain independent streak, of a sort that has lately been causing Poilievre different problems.

Source: CBC News February 19, 2026 18:34 UTC