Ex-Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu has crossed the floor and joined the Liberals
Gladu is the fifth MP to cross the floor in recent months, making the Liberals one seat shy of a majority
Another Conservative MP has crossed the floor, and this time, it’s Marilyn Gladu, of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong.
“The past year has been like no other that Canada has ever faced, and I’ve heard clearly from constituents that you want serious leadership and a real plan to build a stronger and more independent Canadian economy,” Gladu wrote in a statement published to the Liberal party’s website today.
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“That is why I have decided to join Prime Minister Mark Carney and Canada’s new government as the newest member of his caucus. It is a privilege to have served as your Member of Parliament for more than a decade, and I have made a choice to do the best thing for our community’s priorities, and importantly, for our country.”
Gladu is the fifth MP to cross the floor in recent months, bringing the Liberals’ total number of seats to 171. With one more, the party would secure a majority.
In his own statement, Carney welcomed Gladu, who was first elected in 2015. “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,” he said.
Gladu’s voting record makes her move seem a little perplexing. She opposed the legalization of cannabis, as well as a bill to ban conversion therapy, a practice purported to change sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual, which has long been discredited. Gladu later clarified that she is against conversion therapy. She also said she would permit caucus members to bring forward private members bills that would restrict abortion.
On CTV News, political analyst Scott Reid called Gladu’s defection “an absolute mule kick” to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
The news comes as three by-elections are set for Monday. Two of them, in University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest, are in Toronto, and predicted to remain Liberal. In Quebec, Liberals last won the Terrebonne riding by one vote in 2025.
It was also announced today that Poilievre’s director of communications, Katy Merrifield, has decided to resign, saying she intends to focus on other projects.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
