Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Edmonton MP Crosses Floor to Liberals
Matt Jeneroux has represented a riding in Edmonton, Alberta, since 2015 as a Conservative. Today, he sits in the House of Commons as a Liberal. This is the third such defection from the Tories to the Grits in the last 4 months. Much of it is spurred on by Prime Minister Mark Carney's refusal to be a lackey to Donald Trump. This brings Mr. Carney to within 3 seats of a majority, which would give the Liberals more ability to enact programs and policies. It also calls into question the future of the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre.
Politico reported:
Two Liberal MPs previously told POLITICO that Jeneroux was close to joining the Liberals in November and had even met with the prime minister. After the Conservative Party caught wind of his plan, Jeneroux announced he would instead resign from the Conservative caucus, then later clarified he planned to leave for family reasons.
What changed his mind was the Davos speech Mark Carney gave. Mr. Jeneroux said the speech caused him to "reflect on the gravity of the moment that our country is living through."
"It opened a lot of eyes for Canadians, Albertans, Edmontonians -- just how serious this national unity crisis truly is," Jeneroux told reporters ahead of his meeting with Carney.
"For me, it felt disingenuous and quite simply, wrong, to be sitting on the sidelines."
Mr. Jeneroux joins Chris d'Entremont and Michael Ma, who have resigned under Mr. Poilievre's watch and crossed the floor to the Liberals. This brings Mr. Carney to within 3 seats of a majority, and it just so happens that there are three vacant seats for which by-elections are coming,but no dates have been set at this stage.
Naturally, the Conservatives are in a snit over this. Mr. Poilievre issued a statement in which he accused his former colleague of betraying the voters. He added that he thought Mr. Carney was "trying to seize a costly Liberal majority government that Canadians voted against in the last election through dirty backroom deals."
Doug Ford, the Conservative Premier of Ontario, is a rival of Mr. Poilievre and has criticized his stewardship of the party. While Mr. Poilievre had an 87% approval rating at the party convention last month in Calgary, Mr. Ford noted, "You don't win elections at conventions. You win elections across the country. So let's see what happens if the prime minister decides to call an election."
There is little reason for the PM to call an election, though. Things are definitely going his way, as the defections prove. If he were to dissolve Parliament and go to the country, there is a good chance he would pickup seats. However, the Conservatives were set to win the last election, but Mr. Trump derailed their train with his anti-Canada idiocy. The Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party could just as easily prevent Liberal gains.
Mr. Carney is demonstrating one of the basic rules of politics, success breeds success. He has not fixed the housing problems of Canada, nor has he made it more affordable to make a run to Tim Horton's. He has not fixed the employment worries, nor has he solved the issues of rural Canada. What he has done is led Canada into the new global chaos with directness, strength and wisdom. The Trump administration has certainly failed to get him in their camp. Indeed, he is the one western leader most associated with resistance to the MAGA crowd in Washington. The Canadian people have responded with patriotism; even those who do not back him feel Canada is fine out on its own away from the Yanks.
This journal regrets that such a move was necessary, but Mr. Carney really had no choice. He has done what he had to do, and he did it very effectively.
© Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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