Nova Scotia MP leaves Conservative caucus to join the Liberals

by Sarah Ritchie and David Baxter

OTTAWA — Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont left the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals on Tuesday, just hours after the government tabled its latest budget on the floor of the House of Commons.

“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,” d’Entremont said in a media statement, issued by the Liberal party Tuesday evening.

He said he tendered his resignation to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and other relevant figures once the budget was presented in the House.

“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,” he said.

His move puts the Liberals two seats shy of a majority government and being able to pass their budget without opposition support. The news did not land well among his now former caucus colleagues.

Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman said d’Entremont chose not to do the job Conservative voters sent him to Ottawa for.

“Chris made a decision, and he made a decision not to fight inflation and not to lower the cost of food and not to do any of the things that he was sent here to do by his constituents,” Lantsman said while leaving the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Ontario Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis said that the situation is “very sad.”

“It’s like a divorce, right? Divorces are always sad,” she said.

Other Conservatives were less charitable.

“He’s a coward,” B.C. Conservative MP Aaron Gunn said while leaving the House.

Rob Batherson, former Conservative party president who ran unsuccessfully in a Halifax riding earlier this year, called d’Entremont’s decision “the worst personal betrayal I have ever experienced in 30 plus years of politics.”

Batherson said on X d’Entremont broke a promise to him to be Nova Scotia’s lone Conservative voice in the House of Commons.

“I never imagined I would be in a position to not trust Chris d’Entremont,” he said.

Before the news that d’Entremont had joined the Liberals was formally announced, some MPs said they would happily welcome him into their ranks.

“It’s a real shame that he has no home in the Conservative party today, but it’s not surprising to me,” Ontario Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull said. “I think there’s lots of opportunities for people to join our caucus because we’re a big tent.”

“Chris is a terrific guy and a personal friend. These things aren’t easy for anybody, but he knows more about it than I do,” Justice Minister Sean Fraser said.

D’Entremont served as deputy House Speaker from 2021 until the April election and did not get support from the Conservative caucus for his bid to become the Speaker this spring.

D’Entremont was first elected as an MP in 2019 after sitting as a Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MLA for 16 years.