Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont said Wednesday he left the Conservative caucus because he didn’t feel represented in leader Pierre Poilievre’s party anymore and bristled at his “negative” approach to politics.
D’Entremont said there are other Conservative MPs who “are in the same boat” and they may join him in crossing over to Liberals.
“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,” d’Entremont told reporters of Poilievre after appearing with Prime Minister Mark Carney at a post-budget press conference, the day after he crossed the floor.
Asked what pushed him out, d’Entremont said: “It’s just looking at leadership styles and whether we’re doing the right thing for Canada.”
D’Entremont said Canada is facing challenges and he felt it was better to be part of the solution to some of those troubles as a member of the government caucus “and not continue to be negative.”
“It’s time to lead a country to try and make it better and not try to knock it down,” he said. “We have a great opportunity here in Canada and rather than knocking people down, we should try to find ways to work together, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do in my career.”
Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, who left the Conservatives to join the Liberals on budget day, says in recent months he didn’t feel aligned with the ideals advanced by the Conservative leader — and wanted to work to build Canada and ‘not continue to be negative.’
A self-described Red Tory, d’Entremont said he was also swayed by Carney’s first budget, which includes more money for infrastructure, the fishery, farming and the military. Those are crucial industries in his rural Nova Scotia riding, which also includes a Canadian Armed Forces base that stands to gain from the government’s defence spending hike.
D’Entremont said the Liberals promised him nothing in return for crossing the floor.
Carney said he admires d’Entremont for making the decision to leave.
“This is a time where we need to act boldly,” Carney said, adding he and d’Entremont have “alignment” on what’s best for the country as it faces economic threats amid U.S. tariffs.
“This is the time for us to come together as much as possible in the interest of our country,” Carney said.
Asked if he has had conversations with other MPs about joining the Liberals, Carney said: “We’ll speak to anyone publicly or otherwise who can support us.”
“I’ll speak to members, deputies throughout the House.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he admires Chris d’Entremont’s decision to cross the aisle during ‘this crucial time for our country.’ D ’Entremont spoke later at the event, saying he didn’t align with the ideals of Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney’s government tabled its first budget on Tuesday.
Conservative MP Aaron Gunn said d’Entremont’s decision to leave was “shameful.”
“I could never imagine doing something like that — to misrepresent yourself to voters, to lie to your volunteers. It’s only been six months since the election, the leaders are the same, the policies haven’t changed. He campaigned against budgets that look just like this,” Gunn said.
MP Ted Falk said he was “very disappointed” in his former caucus mate for making the leap to the other side. “It’s a betrayal of the team.”
MP Michael Chong, another Conservative, said voters delivered a minority government at the last election and now Carney is trying to “manipulate that result and get a majority that Canadians did not elect.”
