Pierre Poilievre is a dead man walking.
Marilyn Gladu — Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong — has crossed the floor to join Mark Carney’s Liberals, following the path of three previous defectors from the Conservative caucus: Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma, and Matt Jeneroux.
However, her switch is anything but just another defection.
Gladu’s defection opens the door for MPs anywhere on the political spectrum to cross the aisle. Let me explain.
- She strongly opposed a bill to end the practice of conversion therapy.
- She opposed the Liberal government’s plan to legalize cannabis.
- She suggested sending the military to end pipeline protests along railways.
- She promoted unproven treatments for COVID-19, downplaying the severity of the virus and safety of vaccines.
- She unsuccessfully ran for Conservative Party leadership in 2020.
Gladu’s politics have been so far to the right that many Liberals are very uncomfortable with her joining their caucus.
If losing his fourth MP wasn’t bad enough for Poilievre, it is now rumoured by those who watch Parliament Hill that there up to eight more Conservative caucus members lined up and ready to cross the aisle.
The Liberals appear to be using a drip, drip, drip strategy rather than accepting floor crossing MPs all at once, having made a careful calculation that they can cause maximum harm to the Conservative leader by spreading out defections as much as possible. The potential of Poilievre losing more of his remaining 140 MPs is creating a sense of extreme anxiety in the Conservative caucus.
Conservatives trying to divine the future now have another challenge. Not only did the Liberals win all three April 13th byelections – finally giving the party a majority in the House of Commons — but Conservataive support in all three ridings dropped drastically.
And now that the Liberals have secured a clear majority, the next federal election could be put off until April 2029. That’s a long time for restless Conservative caucus members to wait for their next chance to form government.
I would not be surprised at all to see individual Conservatives who aspire to replace Poilievre begin quietly putting in place the fundamentals they will need for a leadership run.
Pierre Poilievre is a dead man walking.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (April 15, 2026): 429.26ppm
One year ago (April 15, 2025): 430.27ppm
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