Conservative MP Kelly DeRidder has accused the Liberals of trying to recruit her across the floor, adding a new flashpoint to the controversy over how Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government turned a minority Parliament into a working majority.
DeRidder, the Conservative MP for Kitchener Centre, said in a public statement that she was personally approached and asked to leave the party under which her constituents elected her.
“I was asked to cross the floor. I said no because your vote isn’t something to trade behind closed doors,” she wrote on X, adding that Canadians “voted for a minority government, not for backroom deals to gain power.”
DeRidder says a Liberal-linked individual contacted her roughly three weeks earlier, warned that Liberals and Greens could support a challenger against her in Kitchener Centre, then shifted to praise for her work on the House standing committee on science and research. She said the person suggested there could be “a great spot” for her working on that portfolio with the Liberals and argued that Kitchener Centre, as a technology hub, would benefit if she sat with the government.
DeRidder did not accept. In Parliament-related social posts, she framed the approach as an attempt to override the will of voters in her riding, while Conservative allies have cast it as part of a broader Liberal effort to consolidate power after the 2025 election returned a minority government.
The claim lands against a concrete political backdrop. Elections Canada’s official 2025 result for Kitchener Centre shows DeRidder won with 20,234 votes, or 34.2%, ahead of Green candidate Mike Morrice at 19,859 votes, or 33.6%, and Liberal candidate Brian Adeba at 17,292 votes, or 29.3%. That narrow, three-way result makes Kitchener Centre exactly the kind of riding where a future Liberal-Green alignment, if it materialized, could matter electorally.
DeRidder’s current status is confirmed by the House of Commons, which lists her political affiliation as Conservative and her constituency as Kitchener Centre in Ontario. Her House profile also lists her voting record for the 45th Parliament, which began on May 26, 2025.
The floor-crossing issue has become more explosive because the Liberals have already reached majority territory. Carney secured a parliamentary majority after special elections, with numerous opposition defections helping bolster the Liberals. The Liberals’ majority means they can more easily pass legislation and likely govern until 2029 without needing opposition support.
One of the so-called floor-crossers, MP Marilyn Gladu, is subject of a legal campaign intending to sue her personally for fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, promissory estoppel, and unjust enrichment.
The committee-control fight is the next layer. Government Motion No. 9, debated April 27, sought to change House standing orders after the Liberals gained majority status. Critics argued the changes would let the government reconfigure committees to reflect the new seat count after floor crossings and byelection wins.
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