The Power Play

Jenica Atwin

2021Notable

Green Party → LiberalMPNew Brunswick

2/5

Atwin left the Green Party during a period of internal chaos, partly over how leader Annamie Paul handled the Israel-Palestine debate. The Green Party was tearing itself apart.

Maxime Bernier

2018Notable

Conservative → People's PartyMPQuebec

0/5

Bernier narrowly lost the Conservative leadership race to Andrew Scheer (by less than 2%). Bitter about the loss, he left to start his own party - the People's Party of Canada -…

Fortin left the BQ to co-found the Strength in Democracy (Force et Démocratie) party with Jean-François Larose, seeking a new approach to Quebec nationalism.

Jean-François Larose

2014

New Democratic Party → Strength in DemocracyMPQuebec

0/5

Larose, NDP MP for Repentigny, left the NDP to co-found the Strength in Democracy (Force et Démocratie) party with Jean-François Fortin.

Four Liberal and four PC members of the Saskatchewan legislature left their parties to create a brand new party - the Saskatchewan Party - uniting the right.

Wilson, former BC Liberal leader, and Tyabji left the Liberals after Wilson was ousted as leader due to a personal scandal involving his relationship with Tyabji. They founded t…

Tremblay was a PC MP who left to join the new Bloc Québécois movement.

François Gérin, a Progressive Conservative MP for Mégantic—Compton—Stanstead, was among the first Quebec MPs to break with Brian Mulroney over the failure of the Meech Lake Acco…

Chartrand was among the PC MPs who followed Lucien Bouchard to form the Bloc Québécois after the Meech Lake Accord failure.

Gilles Duceppe

1990Notable

Independent → Bloc QuébécoisMPQuebec

5/5

Gilles Duceppe made history on August 13, 1990, when he won the by-election in Laurier—Sainte-Marie as an Independent sovereigntist — the first explicitly pro-sovereignty candid…

Rocheleau was one of the Liberal MPs who left to co-found the Bloc Québécois after the Meech Lake Accord failed.

Jean Lapierre

1990Notable

Liberal → Bloc QuébécoisMPQuebec

2/5

Lapierre left the Liberals to co-found the Bloc Québécois with Lucien Bouchard after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, driven by Quebec nationalist sentiment.

Louis Plamondon, a Progressive Conservative MP for Richelieu since 1984, left the Conservative caucus in June 1990 in the wake of the Meech Lake crisis and joined the nascent Bl…

Lucien Bouchard

1990Notable

Prog. Conservative → Bloc QuébécoisMPQuebec

2/5

Bouchard was a cabinet minister under PM Mulroney. When the Meech Lake Accord (a constitutional deal meant to bring Quebec into the constitution) failed, Bouchard left the party…

Leblanc was a PC MP who joined the Bloc Québécois as a founding member after the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord.

Venne left the PC caucus to join the Bloc Québécois as a founding member, motivated by Quebec sovereignty.

Graham Lea

1985

NDP → BC ConservativeMLABritish Columbia

0/5

Lea, NDP MLA for Prince Rupert and former cabinet minister, left the NDP after losing the 1984 leadership race. He sat briefly with the United Party before joining the BC Conser…

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…

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

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…

Hazen Argue

1962Notable

NDP → LiberalMPSaskatchewan

4/5

Argue ran to be leader of the new NDP but lost to Tommy Douglas. Bitter about the loss, he crossed to the Liberals.

In late 1944, when Mackenzie King finally implemented limited conscription for overseas service (the "Zombies" crisis), several Quebec Liberal MPs broke with the party to sit as…

Maxime Raymond

1943Notable

Liberal → Bloc populaire canadienMPQuebec

0/5

Maxime Raymond, a veteran Liberal MP from Quebec, founded the Bloc populaire canadien in September 1942, breaking decisively with the Liberal Party over Prime Minister Mackenzie…

Henry Herbert Stevens

1935Notable

Conservative → Reconstruction PartyMPBritish Columbia

0/5

During the Great Depression, Stevens investigated big companies that were exploiting workers and farmers. His own party tried to stop him. So he left and started his own 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.

Achim, a Conservative MP from Quebec, broke with the party over the conscription crisis and re-aligned with the Laurier Liberals opposing compulsory military service.

Hugh Guthrie

1917Notable

Liberal → UnionistMPOntario

4/5

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

William Stevens Fielding

1917Notable

Liberal → Liberal-UnionistMPNova Scotia

2/5

During World War I, the government wanted to force men to fight overseas (conscription). Fielding, a senior Liberal, supported conscription even though his party leader Wilfrid …

The Conscription Crisis of 1917 shattered the Liberal Party along linguistic and regional lines. When Prime Minister Robert Borden introduced the Military Service Act to impose …