A political scientist believes that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s moment may have passed after yet another defection to the governing Liberal caucus.
Long-time Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who at one point ran for the party leadership, crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join Mark Carney’s government earlier this week.
She is the fifth MP to do so since the last federal election – a total of four from the Conservatives, and one from the NDP.
Dalhousie University professor Lori Turnbull argues that if Justin Trudeau were still Prime Minister, those MPs may not have decided to switch, noting that they needed a “plausible alternative.”
She says Carney, who is “kind of Conservative himself,” is that alternative. She describes him as “winning” and “popular.”
Turnbull says lots of Prime Ministers are popular at some point but that doesn’t mean the opposition starts to empty out. “There’s a sense here, I think, that maybe the moment has closed on Pierre Poilievre.”
She says ultimately that is up to the party to decide, but she referenced how 40 party members told the Toronto Star that he is a “ballot drag,” and it is hard to recover from those kinds of numbers.
Three federal byelections are set for this Monday, which, depending on the outcomes, could push the Liberal government into a majority.
