Conservative MP Kelly DeRidder says Liberals used several different tactics to try to get her to cross the floor to join the governing caucus, which she rejected, saying she will respect the will of the voters who elected her as a Tory.
DeRidder, the MP for Kitchener Centre, released a video on April 27 in which she spoke about the Liberals’ attempts to persuade her to switch parties.
Conservative MP Kelly Deridder in a file photo. House of Commons
DeRidder says she was told her riding would benefit if she crossed the floor to the Liberals.
“Let me be clear, I am not turning my back on the people who elected me, and I am not going to help any government build power through back-room conversations,” DeRidder said.
DeRidder, who was first elected to represent Kitchener Centre in 2025, said she was also told by the Liberals that she “wouldn’t stand a chance” running as a Conservative in the next election.
DeRidder added that she was specifically told that a candidate would be running in her riding with support from both the Liberal Party and the Green Party. DeRidder won 34.2 percent of the vote in the last election, while Green MP Mike Morrice won 33.6 percent, and the Liberal candidate won 29.2 percent.
The MP said after this approach didn’t work, the Liberals then turned to “compliments” and said they had appreciated her work on committees, particularly on AI and digital policy, “and that there could be a spot for me on their team.”
“When that didn’t land either, it became about benefits. I was told switching sides would be very good for my riding, given Kitchener Centre’s role as Canada’s innovation capital,” DeRidder said.
Former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who crossed the floor to join the Liberals in April, told the Sarnia Observer on April 9 that her request to the government for resources for her riding “went really nowhere, until I crossed the floor.”
When Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon was asked by reporters whether Gladu was promised anything for her riding in exchange for her defection from the Conservatives, he replied, “of course not,” adding that government funding for initiatives and projects for specific ridings isn’t tied to who represents them.
“We’re going to reach our hands across the aisle to continue to seek support from all corners of the House of Commons for our policies,” he said in an interview on CTV’s “Question Period” airing April 12.
DeRidder criticized the attempts to try to change the party she was voted in with.
“When elected representatives are quietly courted to change sides, when the balance of Parliament is being reshaped through backroom conversations, we are no longer operating in the spirit of the democratic mandate Canadians gave us,” she said.
The Liberal government recently achieved a majority government of 174 seats following five floor-crossings from other parties and after a recent byelection gave back the Liberals three seats they previously held.
Tory MP Chris d’Entremont joined the Liberals on Nov. 4, 2025, followed by fellow Conservative MPs Michael Ma on Dec. 11, 2025, Matt Jeneroux on Feb. 18, and Gladu on April 8. NDP MP Lori Idlout made a similar announcement on March 10.
Several other Conservative MPs have said in recent months that they were asked to cross the floor, but publicly rejected the offers. These include Tory MPs Amarjeet Gill and Scott Anderson.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said on April 9 that those who have crossed the floor are doing so to support the Liberal Party’s mission “at this crucial time.”
“We are fortunate that they take those decisions, because they bring expertise, they bring perspectives, they bring energy, and they will help us work together,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says achieving a majority government through floor-crossings doesn’t respect the will of the electorate.
“The Carney Liberals did not win a majority government through a general election or today’s by-elections. Instead, it was won through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them,” Poilievre said.