When Mark Carney called for three by elections earlier this week, the riding of Terrebonne, in Quebec, suddenly became ground zero. Until April 13, the day of the by elections, Terrebonne was going to be the centre of the universe. The liberals needed three seats to get a majority government. Two of the seats in the by elections are liberal safe ridings. Terrebonne would be the decider as to whether the liberals got a majority or not.
Just like that, Terrebonne is no longer relevant. In a shocker, Lori Idlout, the NDP member from Nunavut announced that she was crossing over to the liberal side of the floor. Her crossover reduces the liberal magic number for majority to two seats, which they will get on April 13.
With all that is happening in Iran right now, this is not getting the major air play that it should be getting. But Canadian history has been altered with this one move. Prior to last night’s crossover, if the liberals had lost Terrebonne, Pierre Poilievre, would have been the key player in how Parliament played out over the next few months. He could’ve blocked any liberal legislation thus either frustrating, liberals, or forcing liberals into another general election. Or at the same time he could have played along with the liberals, knowing that his popularity is at a low and that any federal election call would’ve resulted in a strong liberal majority.
As it is, once April 13 occurs, PP loses relevance. The liberals will have a majority, albeit only a one seat majority.
Since the liberals were reelected last April 28, four members of parliament have crossed over to the liberals. Three from the conservative side and one now from the NDP, two completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Mark Carney is obviously a master negotiator to have convinced four members of Parliament to come over to his side. This bodes well for Canada as he negotiates with world leaders,
That’s all I have for today.