Floor-crossing ends with leader-tossing
- Apr 11
- 2 min read
Quiz time. Who made these statements?
“A politician who crosses the aisle has shown tremendous courage in putting their principles first.”
“Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, I believe members of Parliament should have that freedom [to cross the floor to another political party]…In my observation, the only parties that really have this as an obsession are the parties that no one ever crosses to.”
And, my personal favorite: “Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain amount of ingenuity to re-rat.”
The first two speakers are former Conservative Party leaders Andrew Scheer and Stephen Harper, respectively. The last quote is attributed to one Winston Churchill, who you may have heard of.
The greatest Parliamentarian of all time may or may not have actually uttered those words (and, given that Churchill was possessed of a formidable wit, it’s likely he did). But this much is true: Churchill crossed the floor of the British Parliament more than once. In 1904, from the Conservatives to the Liberals. In 1924, he journeyed back to the Conservatives. In between, he was an anti-socialist independent.
Churchill was a human weathervane: he went wherever the political winds took him.
So, to all of you Tories kvetching about the pro-convoy so-con kook Marilyn Gladu leaving the Conservatives to join the Liberals? Take a Valium. Chill out. It happens.
And your party has benefitted from floor-crossing, too. Leona Alleslev left the Grits to join the Tories, for example. So did David Emerson, and was rewarded with a cabinet post for doing so. And, at the provincial level, your team has benefitted from floor-crossers many, many times - including just a couple weeks ago, when a Member of Quebec’s National Assembly jumped from the government to the Conservative Party of Quebec.
So, it’s like Prime Minister Harper said: the people who complain about floor-crossing are usually the ones watching the receding backs of a former colleague. Stop your complaining, and focus on the real problem.
Your real problem, to put a fine point on it, is the trim, smiling guy in the front row: Pierre Poilievre.
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You forget one element: principle. Can any logical, honest and rational person claim that these five individuals crossed the floor based on principle? No. Not a single one of them has claimed such a thing. Churchill crossed the floor for multiple stated reasons but primarily because of his commitment to free trade and his utter opposition to socialism. If any of these motley lot had a modicum of principles they would have at least made an attempt to verbalize them. They have not. Comparing these actions to Churchill is weak and empty.
Wink,
Damn this is funny. I was watching Fréchette and my mind wandered straight to Cheryl Gallant. Man, sympatico!
Well said sir. IMHO (not that anyone should, or does, care about what I think) Mr Poilievre would have been wise to call it a day after his defeat a year or so ago. He could have stood up and said that the electorate has spoken, he wishes the result had been different, but this is democracy, and the party needs a new leader. It was obvious to anyone with a pulse that as long as Trump was in charge south of the border, the Conservatives were never going to be elected. Older Canadians (again, just my opinion) were badly frightened and angered by Trumps stupidity and arrogance (and aggression), and were looking for a reassuring figure to save Canada…
I agree entirely that floor-crossing is an (unfortunate) reality of the Parliamentary system. And certainly politicians of all stripes - including Conservatives, as you mention - have benefited from it, and endorsed it. It's the current reality, for sure.
That said, I also agree philosophically that floor-crossing betrays the voters. Let's be honest - in most cases (other than "star" candidates), people vote for parties not candidates. Quite frankly, in most ridings in Canada, you could run a trained monkey as the candidate and people would still vote for whatever party they support. So let's not pretend that the candidate has some magical personal appeal which transcends party lines, or other such self-serving nonsense.
That's why I would strongly support…
Warren,
Pierre is already among the walking dead. His caucus knows that it's either him or THEM. Now, the fun part will be watching to see who becomes the CPC's Wayne Long. It's coming as sure as I'm breathing.