The Immediate Reward

Lori Idlout

2026Notable

New Democratic Party → LiberalMPNunavut

3/5

Idlout, NDP MP for Nunavut, crossed to the Liberals in early 2026, joining the governing party to better advocate for Inuit and northern issues from within government.

Marilyn Gladu

2026Notable

Conservative → LiberalMPOntario

3/5

Gladu was the fourth Conservative MP to cross the floor to the Liberals during the 45th Parliament. A veteran MP first elected in 2015, she joined Prime Minister Mark Carney's g…

Matt Jeneroux

2026Notable

Conservative → LiberalMPAlberta

4/5

Jeneroux was the third Conservative to join the Liberals. He represents Edmonton-Riverbend - deep in Alberta Conservative country. An Alberta Conservative joining the Liberals i…

Chris d'Entremont

2025Notable

Conservative → LiberalMPNova Scotia

4/5

D'Entremont was a Conservative MP from Nova Scotia who crossed the floor to join Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government. He was the first of three Conservative MPs to m…

Ma was the second Conservative MP to cross to the Liberals. His crossing was especially significant because it brought the Liberals within just one seat of a majority government…

Brendan Maguire

2024

Liberal → Prog. ConservativeMLANova Scotia

4/5

Maguire left the Nova Scotia Liberals and joined the governing Progressive Conservatives.

Tilley, Liberal MLA for Northside-Westmount, crossed to the PCs in 2024, joining the governing party.

Mitchelmore and Kirby left the NL NDP caucus in protest against the leadership of Lorraine Michael. They briefly sat as "Independent NDP" before joining the Liberals.

Tom Osborne

2012Notable

Progressive Conservative → LiberalMHANewfoundland

5/5

Osborne, a long-serving PC MHA, left the PC caucus and joined the Liberals, citing dissatisfaction with the party's direction.

Bridget Pastoor

2011

Alberta Liberal → Progressive ConservativeMLAAlberta

3/5

Pastoor, Alberta Liberal MLA for Lethbridge-East, left the Liberals and crossed to the PCs under new leader Alison Redford, who she felt represented a more progressive direction.

Casey, PC MLA for Colchester North, crossed to the Liberals in 2011 after clashing with PC leader Jamie Baillie.

Caire and Picard, Quebec ADQ MNAs, left the ADQ to sit as independents. They were among the founding members of the Coalition Avenir Québec when it formed in 2011.

Riedl and Auger, Quebec ADQ MNAs, crossed the floor to join the governing Quebec Liberals under Jean Charest as the ADQ declined.

Khan, Liberal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville, crossed to the Conservatives in January 2007 after Prime Minister Harper appointed him as special adviser on Middle East and South…

David Emerson

2006Notable

Liberal → ConservativeMPBritish Columbia

5/5

This is one of the most controversial crossings in Canadian history. Emerson was elected as a Liberal, and just TWO WEEKS later, he crossed to join Stephen Harper's new Conserva…

Belinda Stronach

2005Notable

Conservative → LiberalMPOntario

5/5

In one of the most dramatic moments in Canadian parliamentary history, Stronach crossed the floor to join Paul Martin's Liberal cabinet. Her single vote helped save the minority…

Scott Brison

2003Notable

Prog. Conservative → LiberalMPNova Scotia

4/5

When the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance to form today's Conservative Party, Brison refused to go along. He joined the Liberals instead.

Dennis Fentie

2002Notable

NDP → Yukon PartyMLAYukon

5/5

Fentie left the Yukon NDP and joined the Yukon Party.

Melenchuk and Osika, the last two Saskatchewan Liberal MLAs, crossed to the governing NDP, effectively ending the Saskatchewan Liberals as a legislative force.

Laliberte, NDP MP for Churchill River, crossed to the Liberals in 2000, reportedly for better access to government resources for his northern riding.

Wilson, PDA MLA and former BC Liberal leader, crossed to the governing BC NDP under Premier Ujjal Dosanjh, receiving a cabinet appointment.

Buckley Belanger

1998Notable

Saskatchewan Liberal → Saskatchewan NDPMLASaskatchewan

5/5

Belanger, Saskatchewan Liberal MLA for Athabasca, crossed to the governing NDP, joining the party he felt better served his northern riding's interests.

Neufeld left the Reform Party of BC to join the BC Liberals, the new dominant centre-right party, as Reform faded provincially.

Ramsay, Ontario NDP MPP for Timiskaming, left the NDP to join the Ontario Liberals under David Peterson.

Roch, Manitoba Liberal MLA for Springfield, crossed to the PCs after failing to secure a Liberal nomination for the next election.

Ittinuar, the first Inuk elected to Parliament (NDP, Nunatsiaq), crossed to the Liberals, reportedly under pressure and the promise of advancement for northern issues.

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…

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…

Jack Horner

1977Notable

Progressive Conservative → LiberalMPAlberta

4/5

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.

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.

Curtis, a BC Conservative MLA, crossed to Social Credit as part of the consolidation of the free-enterprise coalition against the Barrett NDP government.

Bud Olson

1967Notable

Social Credit → LiberalMPAlberta

5/5

Olson, MP for Medicine Hat, left the declining Social Credit Party to join the Liberals under Pierre Trudeau, who offered him a cabinet position.

René Lévesque, the charismatic former journalist and Quebec Liberal cabinet minister, had become increasingly convinced that Quebec needed sovereignty to protect its language, c…

Rolston, a BC Progressive Conservative MLA, crossed the floor to join W.A.C. Bennett's new Social Credit government.

Greenlay, a Manitoba PC MLA, crossed the floor to join the Liberal-Progressive government of Douglas Campbell, who was a childhood friend. He was immediately appointed Provincia…

Thomas Alexander Crerar

1930Notable

Progressive / United Farmers → LiberalMPManitoba

5/5

Thomas Alexander Crerar, the founder and first leader of the Progressive Party of Canada, had resigned the party leadership in 1922 and later sat as a United Farmers of Manitoba…

Agar, Progressive MLA in Saskatchewan, crossed to the governing Liberals as the Progressive movement declined on the prairies.

Baker, Saskatchewan Labour MLA, crossed to the Liberals, joining the governing party.

Frank Broadstreet Carvell

1917Notable

Liberal → Liberal-UnionistMPNew Brunswick

4/5

Like Fielding, Carvell supported conscription during WWI and left the Liberals to join the Union Government.

Hugh Guthrie

1917Notable

Liberal → UnionistMPOntario

4/5

Another Liberal who supported conscription during WWI and crossed the floor.

Joseph-Israël Tarte

1893Notable

Conservative → LiberalMPQuebec

4/5

Joseph-Israël Tarte, a Quebec Conservative journalist and politician, had been one of the party's most effective organizers in Quebec. However, he became disillusioned with the …

Five Quebec Liberal MLAs — Alexandre Chauveau, Edmund James Flynn, Louis Napoléon Fortin, Étienne-Théodore Pâquet, and Ernest Racicot — crossed the floor to the Conservatives in…

Alfred Gilpin Jones

1872Notable

Independent → LiberalMPNova Scotia

4/5

Alfred Gilpin Jones, elected as an Anti-Confederate in 1867 and then sitting as an Independent, gradually aligned with the Liberal Party by 1872 as the anti-Confederation moveme…

Joseph Howe

1869Notable

Anti-Confederate → Liberal-ConservativeMPNova Scotia

5/5

Howe led the fight against Nova Scotia joining Canada. When that fight was lost, he negotiated better financial terms for Nova Scotia, then joined the government.

Richard John Cartwright

1869Notable

Liberal-Conservative → LiberalMPOntario

5/5

Cartwright believed he deserved to be Finance Minister. When Prime Minister Macdonald gave the job to someone else, Cartwright left the party in anger.

Wetmore, an Anti-Confederate in the New Brunswick colonial legislature, switched sides and supported Confederation after the pro-Confederation forces prevailed.