A third Conservative member of parliament broke ranks Wednesday, joining Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals and pushing the governing party within reach of an outright parliamentary majority.
Carney confirmed on social media that Matt Jeneroux — an Alberta MP who held the Edmonton Riverbend riding for three consecutive terms dating back to 2015 — had switched allegiances. The addition lifts the Liberal seat count to 169, three short of the 172 needed to control the House of Commons without opposition support.
Jeneroux said the decision came through extended conversations with his family and constituents, describing the country’s political moment as one requiring “steady leadership.” He pointed to Carney’s January address at the World Economic Forum in Davos — where the prime minister condemned economic coercion by larger powers against smaller nations to widespread international attention — as a factor in his thinking.
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Carney welcomed Jeneroux with a new appointment as special advisor on economic and security partnerships. In a statement, the prime minister described the Edmonton MP as someone who brings “a strong voice in international engagement and parliamentary diplomacy” to the Liberal ranks.
Two other Conservative MPs — Chris d’Entremont, who represented a Nova Scotia riding, and Ontario’s Michael Ma — had already made the same move in the months prior. With three parliamentary seats currently vacant and their by-elections pending, the Liberals stand to potentially reach majority territory without a general election.
Related: One Seat Away: What Will It Take for Carney to Secure His Majority?
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The vacancies stem from the departures of Liberal MPs Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair from their Toronto-area seats, along with a contested Montreal-area race that ended in a single-vote margin.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called the move a manufactured power grab, writing on X that Carney was chasing a majority “through dirty backroom deals” at the expense of voters who rejected that outcome at the ballot box.
Poilievre lost his own seat in the April 2025 federal election before reclaiming a position in the House through a by-election, and his 87% result in a recent Conservative leadership review has done little to quiet concerns about his command of the caucus.
McGill University political science professor Daniel Béland said the cumulative effect of three defections is doing measurable damage. “The third instance of floor-crossing by a Conservative MP in just a few months conveys the message that Poilievre does not fully control his caucus,” Béland said, “a perception that is likely to undermine his leadership.”
Jeneroux had signaled as early as November that he intended to leave the Conservative caucus, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. He made no mention at the time of joining the Liberals.
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