Chris D'Entremont in the House of Commons in May.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont resigned Tuesday from the Conservative caucus and joined the governing Liberals in a move that’s a blow to his party and a boon for the minority government as it works to pass its first budget.
Mr. d’Entremont gave no reasons for his resignation in a letter he sent to Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, but in a statement – sent via the Liberal Party late Tuesday – he linked his decision to the budget.
“After serious consideration and thoughtful conversations with constituents and my family, I came to a clear conclusion: there is a better path forward for our country – and a better path forward for Acadie-Annapolis,” he said in the statement, naming the riding he has represented as a Conservative since 2019.
“Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering that path with a new Budget that hits the priorities I have heard most in my riding, to build strong community infrastructure and grow a stronger economy. That is why I am joining the Government caucus.”
Mr. Carney’s office said it had no comment on the new recruit, and Mr. Poilievre’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The move does not provide the Liberals with a majority in the House of Commons. They now hold 170 seats out of 343, two seats short of a majority.
They will need more support to pass their budget. NDP interim leader Don Davies, whose party has seven seats in the House of Commons, has suggested it could be an option for some of his MPs to abstain.
If the budget fails to pass, it could trigger an election.
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Mr. d’Entremont won his riding in the April election by just 533 votes. Though he received more ballots in total than he had in 2021, the collapse of support for the NDP in his riding saw the Liberals make major gains.
He was the only Conservative MP re-elected in Nova Scotia, a stunning reversal of the party’s fortunes there. A year out from the vote, the Conservatives had been projected to markedly increase their seat count in the province.
After the election, he expressed disappointment in his party’s performance, saying he didn’t think the Conservatives moved fast enough to address Canadians’ concerns about the impact of the Trump administration.
Mr. d’Entremont was first elected in 2019, coming to federal politics after years in the provincial legislature as part of Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative Party.
Members of that party openly broke with Mr. Poilievre during the federal election, with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston saying he wouldn’t endorse his federal cousins and later saying they didn’t do a good enough job reaching out.
Mr. d’Entremont served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons in 2021, but he withdrew his name from consideration for this Parliament after caucus decided to back the Liberal candidate to take a vote away from the government.
Chris Warkentin, the Chief Opposition Whip, said he believed the Speaker’s race played a role in Mr. d’Entremont’s decision to cross the floor and he doesn’t understand how Mr. d’Entremont can vote for the Liberals’ budget after backing the Conservatives’ platform just months ago.
“Conservatives are disappointed he let his own personal grievances of not getting elected Deputy Speaker get in the way of his promises, and that he agrees with Liberals that Canadians will have to sacrifice more for their failures,” he said in a statement.
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Other Conservatives took the loss much harder. Former party president Rob Batherson, a fellow Nova Scotian, called it the “worst personal betrayal I have ever experienced in 30 plus years of politics.”
For Liberal and New Democrats, the defection was seen as proof of a rupture in Mr. Poilievre’s caucus, linked to comments he made earlier calling the Mounties “despicable” and saying that the RCMP were covering for then-prime minister Justin Trudeau when they didn’t criminally charge him for ethics violations.
He later walked back some of those remarks, but the NDP’s Mr. Davies said the comments channelled U.S. President Donald Trump and it shouldn’t be a surprise that people were upset.
“It sends a message that not all is well in the Conservative Party,” he said, adding he has faith that none of his MPs are considering joining the government.