Bill Matthews

Bill Matthews, a Progressive Conservative MP for Burin—St. George's in Newfoundland, crossed to the Liberal Party in August 1999. Matthews had been elected as a PC in 1997 and was one of a handful of Progressive Conservative MPs remaining in Parliament after the party's collapse in 1993. His crossing was driven by the dire state of the PC party, which held only 20 seats, and the practical reality that the Liberal Party under Jean Chrétien offered a more viable political home for a moderate Newfoundland MP. The PCs were struggling to maintain relevance as a national party, and Matthews saw more opportunity to serve his constituents from the government benches.

Matthews joined the Liberal caucus and sought re-election as a Liberal in the 2000 election but was defeated. His crossing was part of a broader pattern of PC MPs defecting to the Liberals in the late 1990s and early 2000s (David Price, Diane St-Jacques, André Harvey, Scott Brison) as the Progressive Conservative party slowly bled support. The party's eventual merger with the Canadian Alliance in 2003 was partly driven by this ongoing hemorrhage of talent.