OTTAWA—Prime Minister Mark Carney has recruited another Conservative MP in the House of Commons with the stunning defection of Michael Ma, who announced Thursday he is joining the Liberals — a move that puts the Carney government one vote shy of a majority.
Ma met in person with Carney Thursday afternoon and the deal was sealed, the Star has learned.
Within hours, the rookie MP for Markham-Unionville announced he would cross the floor, in a move that represents a significant gain for the Liberals and the latest political blow to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
With Ma’s entry into the Carney circle, the Liberals now have 171 MPs. Carney needs just one more in order to have 172 seats to secure a majority in the 343-seat House of Commons.
A Conservative source told the Star after the news broke late Thursday that Poilievre’s party was blindsided by the news.
In a statement issued by the Liberals, Ma, the MP for Markham-Unionville, said he believes the government is on the right course.
“I have concluded that Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering the steady, practical approach we need to deliver on the priorities I hear every day while door knocking in Markham–Unionville,” he said. “That includes making life more affordable, growing a strong Canadian economy, strengthening community safety, and creating real opportunities for young people and families who are working hard to build their Canadian dream.”
The Conservative source who spoke to the Star, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Ma attended the Conservative party’s holiday party this week and appeared to be an enthusiastic critic of the Carney government.
The MP even posed for a group photo with leader Pierre Poilievre and his wife Ana at the Conservative caucus Christmas party on Wednesday. The photo, obtained by the Star, shows Ma and Poilievre broadly smiling.
In a statement posted to X, Poilievre said, “Michael Ma was elected as a Conservative by the constituents of Markham-Unionville to fight against Liberal inflationary spending driving up the cost of living in his community.
“Today, he chose to endorse the very policies he was elected to oppose. The same policies driving up food prices and making life more expensive for all. The people he let down the most are the ones who elected him to fight for an affordable future. He will have to answer to them.”
Ma’s defection, and the talks that led to it, was information that was held so tightly even many senior Liberal government officials did not know what was coming before it was announced in a press release issued by the Liberal party just ahead of the Liberal caucus Christmas party in the nation’s capital.
Ma is a first-time MP, who won the Markham–Unionville riding in the spring election for the Conservatives with roughly 2,000 more votes than his Liberal opponent.
This is the second Conservative MP to cross the floor to the Liberals this fall after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont crossed in early November.
Another Conservative MP, Matt Jeneroux of Edmonton — whom the Star reported was also close to crossing over to join the Liberals last month after meetings with Carney and his senior staff — has announced that instead of defecting, he will resign his seat at some unspecified point in the new year. He did not respond to questions from the Star earlier Thursday about his future.
For now, Jeneroux remains sitting in the Conservative caucus although he has failed to vote with his party, including on Poilievre’s effort to reject the Liberal budget — a vote that could have brought down the government.
The Liberals may not be able to count on Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s support in the future, although she was critical to helping Carney pass his budget, along with some opposition abstentions.
Still, several government bills advanced on the last day of the session on Thursday, despite opposition grumbling, as MPs rushed to end a bitter fall sitting of Parliament a day early. The Commons will not resume until Jan. 26.
Liberal House leader Steven MacKinnon, in a Thursday afternoon news conference before Ma’s dramatic move was announced, telegraphed that private discussions were ongoing with Conservatives across the aisle.
He said the Liberals “fully realize” they have a minority government “but we do have a mandate,” and there are a group of Conservatives who do not agree with the Conservative leader that their job is to obstruct government business in the lead-up to his review.
“There are a number of Conservative MPs, they talk to me, they talk to my colleagues, who don’t share that view. But they (Conservatives), at least in the lead up to Mr. Poilievre’s leadership review, are choosing to use a scorched-earth policy.
“And they think that’s the way to secure his leadership and to gain points among the Conservative base. We … think that is very discordant for most Canadians, and we think that is obviously not the approach that should be taken in these very challenging times.”
Just last week, Ma was criticizing the Liberals during the budget debate when he said the government was on the wrong track and making life worse for Canadians with a poorly run immigration program and bad economic policies.
“The Liberals do not believe in a productive economy that works for hard-working Canadians,” he said on Dec. 2. “There are more seniors lining up at food banks than in previous years. That means whatever the Liberal government is doing it is not enough to address the challenges our seniors are facing.”
