MP resigns from Conservative caucus, crosses floor to join Carney Liberals

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer reacts to the federal budget, citing rising deficits, affordability struggles, and why Chris d'Entremont resigned.

Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont is crossing the floor, defecting from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s official opposition caucus to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals.

In a statement issued by the Liberal Party late Tuesday night confirming the major political shakeup, d’Entremont said that after the 2025 federal budget was tabled, he informed Poilievre and the Speaker of the House of Commons that he had “resigned from the Conservative caucus.”

“After serious consideration and thoughtful conversations with constituents and my family, I came to a clear conclusion: there is a better path forward for our country — and a better path forward for Acadie-Annapolis,” d’Entremont said.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering that path with a new Budget that hits the priorities I have heard most in my riding, to build strong community infrastructure and grow a stronger economy. That is why I am joining the Government caucus.”

A Conservative MP since 2019, d’Entremont won his seat with a narrow 1.1 per cent margin of victory — 533 votes — over the Liberal candidate in the last federal election.

Asked about the election results in April, he expressed some regret about the campaign Poilievre ran, specifically in Atlantic Canada.

“It would have been nice to have Pierre here earlier in the campaign, at least before the advanced polls,” d’Entremont said at the time. “There were a number of announcements that could have been made here, especially fisheries based. We were left to do them ourselves.”

Confirming the defection in an interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Tuesday, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer called it “disappointing.”

“He’ll have to go back to the supporters in his riding that dug deep into their own pockets to support his campaign and explain why he took their precious time and resources and then turn their back on them just a few months later,” Scheer said.

Having served as the deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 2021 to 2025, d’Entremont has been arguably less connected to his caucus members in recent years.

He had thrown his hat back into the ring for the top Speaker job at the start of this Parliament in May, but he and another Conservative hopeful withdrew their names from consideration at the last minute, believed to be motivated by the tight minority dynamics and the fact that naming a Liberal Speaker would ostensibly take another vote away from the governing party.

Scheer said he believed d’Entremont’s resignation stemmed from “personal grievances” about the Speaker race.

“He’s been upset about that,” Scheer said. “I’m disappointed that he let his own personal grievances get in the way of his commitment to his constituents.”

Before joining federal politics, d’Entremont was a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003-2019.

Carney’s Liberals were just three votes shy of a majority government, and now are one seat closer, also bettering the odds of seeing this budget pass.

“This is an important moment for the country to come together, and I am looking forward to working with the prime minister to build the strong economic future that all our communities deserve,” d’Entremont said.

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha