MP Marilyn Gladu’s recent floor cross from the Conservatives to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals has now spawned a dedicated legal campaign. In the website dedicated to the legal action, the campaign says it intends to sue Gladu personally for fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, promissory estoppel, and unjust enrichment.
Official election results show Gladu won Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong in the 2025 federal election with 40,597 votes, or 53.1% of ballots cast, defeating Liberal George Vandenberg by 11,657 votes. One day after her switch, CityNews reported the move left Carney’s Liberals one seat short of a majority, while Canadian Press reporting said Gladu was the fifth opposition MP to join the Liberals since the 2025 election and the fourth Conservative to do so.
The legal campaign’s strongest political exhibit is Gladu’s own January position on floor-crossing. In January, she backed automatic byelections for MPs who switch parties, telling The Independent that a byelection should be called when an MP leaves one party for another. That earlier stance has become central to the backlash because, after crossing herself, she did not vacate the seat.
When she crossed, Gladu explained that joining Carney was “the best thing for our community’s priorities and for our country.” The next day, Canadian Press reported that she described the move as the “best thing” for her riding, the country and herself, while also pledging she would vote with the government on matters tied to abortion and equality rights.
That is where the campaign is trying to turn politics into litigation. The website argues donors, volunteers, and voters relied on a Conservative platform and on Gladu’s past public positions, then says that reliance was later upended by her move into Liberal caucus.
The campaign published numbers meant to sharpen that pitch. It cites 40,597 votes, an 11,657-vote margin, and more than C$102,000 that Gladu’s 2025 campaign allegedly raised and spent. It also says Gladu continues to keep an annual MP salary, but here the site appears stale on at least one figure. The page references C$194,000, while Parliament’s current indemnities page lists the basic sessional indemnity for a House member at C$217,700.
The most serious allegation on the site is not civil but criminal. Organizers say Gladu’s own remarks about federal funding reaching her riding after the floor crossing raise questions under Section 119 of the Criminal Code, the bribery provision covering MPs and carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years. Section 119 does in fact provide for a maximum 14-year term. But the site also includes a crucial caveat: it says no criminal charges have been laid and any determination would be for the courts.
The site itself makes an important admission that undercuts any suggestion a case is already live in court: it says no contributions will be solicited until Ontario civil litigation counsel is retained and a dedicated trust account is opened.
As of the site’s current public materials, organizers are not yet collecting donations, have not retained counsel, and are still building a registry of potential claimants rather than pointing to a filed statement of claim.
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