Energy minister helped recruit former Conservative MP to Liberals: sources

After the Liberals convinced another Conservative MP to cross the floor, Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says there are more Conservative members who are “extremely frustrated” with the leadership of the party.

“All of my colleagues here have the same experience of speaking to Conservative members, unfortunately a group which is in the minority in their group, who are extremely frustrated with the leadership of their party,” MacKinnon said during a press conference in Gatineau, Que., on Friday morning.

“(Conservatives) are required every day to go through this charade of obstruction, and you see it repeating the same question 40 times in the House of Commons every day. That is a soul-destroying experience for many Conservative members of Parliament,” he later added.

Late Thursday, rookie MP Michael Ma, who represents the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville and was first elected in this year’s federal election, crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals.

• IN PICTURES: Canadian politicians who crossed the floor or left their party

“After listening carefully to the people of Markham–Unionville in recent weeks and reflecting with my family on the direction of our country, I have informed the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition that I will be joining Prime Minister Mark Carney in the government caucus. This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada’s future,” Ma wrote in a statement.

The Liberals now have 171 seats and are one vote short of a majority.

Ma is the third MP since November to leave Conservative ranks.

Hours after the federal budget on Nov. 4, Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont defected to the Liberals, saying he no longer “aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about.”

That same week, Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux was rumoured to be crossing the floor until he announced he would be resigning from the Conservative party next spring.

The House of Commons has risen for the fall session and won’t return until Jan. 26.

Asked by reporters whether the Liberal government can get to a majority by that date, MacKinnon said he “won’t speculate on that” and pointed to the leadership of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“We did not create this situation where Conservatives are frustrated with the direction that their leadership has ordered them to take,” MacKinnon responded, adding “others exist” that “do not like the Poilievre approach.”

In his statement, Ma said he is joining Liberal ranks because Carney is “offering the steady, practical approach” needed “to deliver on the priorities I hear every day,” which he says includes affordability and the economy.

But on Dec. 2, Ma stood up in the House of Commons and criticized the Liberals’ federal budget and accused the party of “feudalism.”

“As the Liberals see themselves as a player, they have always stacked the game in their favour. They are team asset inflation. They are team rentier economy. They are team feudalism,” Ma said at the time. “The Liberals do not believe in a productive economy that works for hard-working Canadians.”

When asked if Ma is truly a Liberal, MacKinnon called him a “distinguished Canadian” who will be “very welcome in our caucus.”

“He shares the view that I just described of many, many Conservatives in that caucus who have to go home and talk to their chambers of commerce and talk to some of their supporters, and talk to people who like what this government is doing, who like our focus on the economy, who like our ability and our desire to get big things done,” MacKinnon said.

Poilievre is set to face a leadership review at the end of January in Calgary.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday prior to Ma’s floor crossing, Poilievre was asked if he is confident that he will get a good number in that review, and he simply answered “very.”

Energy minister helped secure Ma

Multiple sources tell CTV News that Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson played a key role in securing Ma’s defection to the Liberals and was the first point of contact for the talks.

According to one source who is close to those involved in the discussions, Hodgson and Ma had developed a friendship over the summer as MPs for neighbouring ridings who frequently saw each other at community events, and “both have business backgrounds with similar visions”

That source also says the official meeting to discuss the floor crossing happened Thursday afternoon with Hodgson, Carney, Ma and the prime minister’s chief of staff Marc-André Blanchard in the room.

Meanwhile, after news of the defection came out on Thursday evening, Ma appeared at the Liberal Party of Canada’s holiday party in downtown Ottawa where Hodgson was seen alongside Ma throughout the night.

With files from CTV News’ Judy Trinh