Floor-crosser Marilyn Gladu, flanked by Prime Minister Mark Carney, entered the Liberals’ national convention in downtown Montreal on Thursday to cheers and selfie requests, ready to celebrate with a party she opposed in the House for a decade.
The former Conservative MP joined the policy convention, the largest in Liberal history say organizers, a day after helping the party inch within sight of a majority government.
But her past opinions — anti-abortion views, vaccine skepticism, support for the trucker convoy, opposing cannabis legalization and reservations about banning conversion therapy — prompted many questions to Carney, Liberal MPs and delegates.
Gladu has not taken any media questions since switching party allegiances.
“She will vote with the government if there are votes relating to any aspect of that issue [abortion], as well as the rights of Canadians to be their whole selves, to love who they love,” Carney said during a news conference earlier Thursday.
Asked about Gladu’s previous comments, Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen said while he hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with his new caucus colleague, he argued Canadians expect them to work together.
“I think that if we start to hold things against each other in politics, we’re never going to be able to find common ground,” he said from the convention.
“I would argue that not only is democracy built on this, but our country expects this. That’s what they expect of their leaders right now.”
WATCH | PM on expectations for Gladu:
Gladu will vote with Liberals on issues like abortion: Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney says longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu will vote with the government on social issues. Gladu’s floor-crossing came as a surprise to both Liberals and Conservatives, given some of her previous positions on issues like abortion, vaccines and conversion therapy.
Attendee Madison Lalonde said she’ll wait to see what Gladu does before forming an opinion.
“I look forward to seeing what she offers. Obviously it’s a different opinion than what we’ve seen in the past, but it’s still exciting,” she said.
Reza Rashidi, another attendee, said he’s also taking a wait-and-see approach.
“We saw the Liberal Party was able to change and revitalize with the new leader,” he said. “Let’s see if she actually is able to keep up with our policies and like the things that the Liberal Party believes in.”
Fellow floor-crosser Matt Jeneroux, who also defected from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s benches earlier this year, said he believes Gladu’s support for Carney’s agenda is real.
“Regardless of what she’s voted on in the past or what type of politics she’d be classified as, I think ultimately she’s supporting a prime minister’s agenda that I think is the right one for the country,” he said.
“I’m happy to see her and welcome her.”
Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux joined the Liberals earlier this year. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Pollara’s chief strategy officer Dan Arnold, who was the pollster for former prime minister Justin Trudeau, said it’s a calculated risk taking on someone “who’s maybe got a little more baggage than your typical Liberal MP” ahead of three key byelections on Monday.
“I think the bigger risk for him would be his government collapsing because he doesn’t have enough votes,” he said.
While the official agenda is dotted with panels, speakers, policy discussions and campaign training, it’s Gladu’s crossing and those byelections that are fuelling hallway conversations. The party is hoping those races will not only secure a majority government but add some breathing room to pass its legislative agenda.
Gladu’s defection brings the Liberals up to 171 seats heading into the convention, short of the 172 needed for a slim majority when all seats in the House of Commons are filled.
It also means the party only needs to win one of Monday’s three races to secure a narrow majority.
But because the Speaker is a Liberal MP, Carney’s party would have an easier time controlling House business if it got to 173 seats.
Two of the byelections — the Toronto ridings of University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest — are considered Liberal strongholds.
The Quebec riding of Terrebonne, not too far from where the convention is being held, proved to be nailbiter during the election this time last year. It was won by the Liberals by just one vote, but those results were later annulled by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Liberals enter their national gathering with a challenge they haven’t dealt with in years: don’t seem too happy.
“If you’re going into a convention in which you’re riding high in the polls, I suspect the mood is going to be pretty good,” said David Coletto, founder and CEO of the polling firm Abacus Data.
“The challenge will be not to seem too excited because the public is not feeling great about the state of the world, and the anxiety that world is causing in their lives.”
Coletto said the Liberals need to contain “some of that optimism and joy” and “show that they’re still focused on the priorities of the public.”
“If the polls are reflective of how voters in those ridings are feeling, then the Liberals should have a really good day on Monday,” he said.
Gathering comes amid global unrest
The gathering also falls against the backdrop of a shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran and instability in the global energy market.
Adding further economic uncertainty, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this week he doesn’t expect negotiations on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on trade to be resolved by July 1.
Coletto said Carney needs to address Canadians’ concerns when he takes the stage on Saturday.
“Any time that people feel that their day-to-day lives are getting harder, not easier, there’s always a risk they’re gonna blame the people in power,” he said.
“One difference though this time versus what might’ve been post-pandemic is people still overwhelmingly believe that the cause of that pain is not Mark Carney or not the decisions that the Liberal government are making — it’s Donald Trump.”
Other keynote speakers include Finance Minister François‑Philippe Champagne, Man in Motion founder Rick Hansen, former federal Liberal cabinet minister and current Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada and president of the Liberal Party of Canada Sachit Mehra.
Members will be debating 24 policy proposals, which touch on health-care reform, the economy, curtailing use of the notwithstanding clause and restricting teenagers’ access to social media and artificial intelligence chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The party said about 4,500 Liberals are expected to attend the convention which runs from from April 9 to 11. In a statement the party said more than half of the participants are attending for the first time and is expecting the most youth delegates in Liberal policy convention history.
