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1960-1980
Quebec transformed from a conservative, church-dominated society into a modern, secular one. The sovereignty movement emerged, led by politicians who crossed the floor to build it.
René Lévesque's crossing in 1967 was the spark that eventually led to the Parti Québécois, the 1976 election victory, and the 1980 referendum.
Argue ran to be leader of the new NDP but lost to Tommy Douglas. Bitter about the loss, he crossed to the Liberals.
Thirteen Quebec-based Social Credit MPs, led by Réal Caouette, split from the national Social Credit Party to form the Ralliement des créditistes, a Quebec-focused populist part…
Ouellet and Girouard, Social Credit MPs from Quebec, left the fragmenting Social Credit party to join the Progressive Conservatives.
Léon Balcer, one of the most senior Quebec Progressive Conservative MPs and a former cabinet minister under John Diefenbaker, left the PC caucus in 1965 over what he saw as the …
Rémi Paul, a Progressive Conservative MP from Quebec, left the PC caucus around 1965 as part of the broader Quebec Conservative revolt against John Diefenbaker's leadership. Lik…
Gilles Grégoire, a founding member and key organizer of the Ralliement des créditistes (the Quebec wing of Social Credit), was expelled from the party around 1966 after clashing…
Lévesque believed Quebec should become its own country. The Liberals disagreed. So he left and eventually founded the Parti Québécois.
Olson, MP for Medicine Hat, left the declining Social Credit Party to join the Liberals under Pierre Trudeau, who offered him a cabinet position.
Gordon Churchill was a towering figure in Progressive Conservative politics — one of John Diefenbaker's most loyal cabinet ministers who served as Minister of Trade and Commerce…
Lucien Lamoureux, the Liberal MP for Stormont—Dundas in eastern Ontario, chose to sit as an Independent in 1968 when he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. While Speake…
Thompson, former national leader of Social Credit, crossed to the PCs after the Social Credit Party fragmented and lost relevance federally.
Ryan, Liberal MP for Toronto Spadina, crossed to the Progressive Conservatives over policy disagreements with the Trudeau government.
Hellyer left the Liberals, tried to start his own party, joined the Conservatives, then went back to the Liberals, then started another party. He crossed the floor more times th…
Rock, Liberal MP for Lachine, crossed to the NDP over disagreements with the Liberal government's policies.
Roch La Salle, a Progressive Conservative MP from Joliette in Quebec, briefly sat as an Independent in the early 1970s during a dispute with PC leader Robert Stanfield. La Salle…
Curtis, a BC Conservative MLA, crossed to Social Credit as part of the consolidation of the free-enterprise coalition against the Barrett NDP government.
Calder was the first Indigenous person elected to any legislature in Canada, serving 26 years as a CCF/NDP member. He crossed to Social Credit, the governing party.
Three BC Liberal MLAs crossed to Social Credit as the free-enterprise coalition consolidated against the NDP. This effectively merged the BC Liberals into Social Credit.
Horner was an Alberta Conservative who crossed to join Pierre Trudeau's Liberal cabinet. In Alberta, being a Liberal is almost unthinkable - this was a huge deal.
Thatcher, Saskatchewan Liberal MLA for Thunder Creek and son of former Premier Ross Thatcher, defected to the PCs over dissatisfaction with the provincial Liberal party's direct…
Gilbert Rondeau, a Créditiste/Social Credit MP from Quebec, was expelled from the Social Credit caucus around 1977 during the death throes of the Social Credit movement in feder…
Jacques Lavoie, a Progressive Conservative MP from Quebec, crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 1977. His switch came during a period of intense political flux in Queb…
Richardson, former Defence Minister, resigned from the Liberal cabinet and caucus over his opposition to official bilingualism and the government's language policies.
René Matte, one of the last remaining Créditiste MPs in the House of Commons, was expelled from what remained of the Social Credit/Créditiste caucus in 1978. By this point, the …
Stanley Stanford Schumacher, a Conservative MP from Palliser in Alberta, left the PC caucus to sit as an Independent in 1978 over a dispute with party leader Joe Clark. Schumach…
Ralph Wesley Stewart, a Liberal MP from British Columbia, crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservative Party in 1979. Stewart's crossing came during a period when the …
Richard Janelle, one of the last Social Credit MPs, crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservative Party in 1979 as it became clear that Social Credit had no future in f…
Collver, former leader of the Saskatchewan PCs, and fellow MLA Dennis Ham left to form the Unionest Party, which controversially advocated for western Canadian provinces joining…
Rideout, a Newfoundland Liberal MHA, crossed to the PCs over his opposition to the federal government's handling of offshore resource ownership, siding with Brian Peckford's pos…