Conservatives blast turncoat MP for joining Liberals “to advance ambitions”

Conservatives are accusing the House of Commons’ latest floor crosser, Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, of forsaking his constituents and his values in pursuit of his own ambitions.

Source: CPAC

Conservatives and their supporters are accusing the House of Commons’ latest floor crosser, Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont, of forsaking his constituents and his values in pursuit of his own ambitions.

D’Entremont, the MP for Acadie–Annapolis in Nova Scotia, announced his resignation from the Conservatives on Tuesday as the Liberal government released its 2025 budget. The Liberal party released statements from the former Conservative MP, announcing that he would be joining the Liberals immediately after the budget was released. This means the government now only needs two votes from opposition parties to pass the budget, which has a $78.3 billion deficit.

By Wednesday morning, d’Entremont was attending a press conference with Prime Minister Mark Carney, who immediately lauded d’Entremont for defecting from the Conservatives and joining his government caucus.

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said that d’Entremont left the Conservative Caucus over “personal grievances” for not being “elected deputy speaker” and noted that his decision is a betrayal of all the people in his riding who campaigned for his election.

“I’m disappointed that he let his own personal grievances get in the way of his commitment to his constituents that he would fight for a more affordable budget to bring down the cost of living, to lower the tax burden on Canadians,” Scheer said on CTV’s Power Play Tuesday night. “He’s going to have to explain to all the people that he looked in the eye, took their donations, put signs on their lawns, and then explain why he betrayed them just a few months later.”

According to Elections Canada, d’Entremont accepted at least $17,850 from 36 donors to re-elect him as a Conservative MP in the April 2025 federal election. Donations ranged anywhere from $250 to $1,000 from Conservative supporters.

Rick Perkins, a former Conservative MP for South Shore—St. Margaret’s, another Nova Scotia riding, challenged d’Entremont, on X, to resign altogether and allow his constituents to vote in a by-election.

He also claimed that d’Entremont told him last weekend, “If an election is held now, I will lose my seat. I might as well not run.”

“Make no mistake. There is nothing in his floor crossing about principles,” Perkins said. “It was about keeping his job.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s former director of media relations, Sebastian Skamsk, shared comments made by d’Entremont just weeks prior in the House of Commons, calling his move “shameful,” a “betrayal,” and accused him of doing so “to advance his own personal ambitions.”

In the speech, d’Entremont blasted Carney over his budget, and said what the budget flaunts as being a “generational investment” is really a “generational debt” that his kids and their kids will have to pay for.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett similarly read out quotes from d’Entrement during a media scrum in the House of Commons, implying that the MP’s complete reversal of opinion indicates disingenuity.

“D’entremont, who said one thing and is now doing another, who said one thing to his constituents, that he would fight for an affordable budget to provide affordability for Canadians. And that’s certainly not what we’ve seen,” Barrett told reporters. “I can tell you that, along with my Conservative colleagues, we’ve got what we’ve said we wanted. We were very clear with the Prime Minister. Gave him the opportunity to consult and to make adjustments where needed.”

Ginny Roth, who ran Poilievre’s successful leadership campaign, stated that when a floor crossing occurs, there should be a by-election to allow constituents to decide if they still support that candidate.

Roth commented on d’Entremont’s history of voting for pro-life bills and speculated if the floor crossing signals that the Liberals have given up on their “zero-tolerance approach to welcoming pro-life MPs.”

D’Entremont addressed the criticism from his former colleagues in the Conservative Party, before Carney’s press conference in Ottawa. And said instead of calling him a “coward, disengenous and disloyal,” they should be “looking at themselves,” and instead of trying to “knock people down” they should “try to find ways to work together.”

When asked whether the Liberals were actively speaking with Conservatives to look for additional floor crossers, Carney avoided the question and reiterated that he would speak with anyone regardless of their affiliation.