TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian Conservative opposition lawmaker defected from his party and joined Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberals on Thursday, a move that leaves the Liberal Party just short of a simple majority of the seats in Parliament.
Michael Ma, who represents Markham–Unionville, is the second Canadian Conservative opposition lawmaker to join Carney’s Liberals in just over a month.
Ma said he entered politics “to focus on solutions, not division.”
“I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door knocking in Markham–Unionville,” Ma said in his statement.
The move puts the Liberals one seat shy of a majority government and being able to pass any bill without the support of an opposition party.
The defection is a blow to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is facing a leadership review vote in January. Poilievre lost the last election in April and even his own seat in Parliament, but has since rejoined the House of Commons.
“Michael Ma was elected as a Conservative by the constituents of Markham-Unionville to fight against Liberal inflationary spending driving up the cost of living in his community,” Poilievre said in a statement on social media. “Today, he chose to endorse the very policies he was elected to oppose.”
Until this year, Poilievre was seen as a shoo-in to become Canada’s next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade. Then, President Donald Trump declared economic war on the U.S.’s neighbor to the north and even threatened to make Canada the 51st state.
Carney has moved the Liberals to the center since replacing Justin Trudeau as prime minister and winning national elections.
