Heather Wright/The Independent

Pete Aarssen did not see it coming.

The long-time Conservative who is now the president of the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong CPC Riding Association says there was no warning that Marilyn Gladu was leaving the Conservative Party to sit as a government member with the Liberal Party.

Gladu has been elected four times under the Conservative banner. Just a year ago, over 40,000 people in the riding cast their ballot for her in the election that saw the Liberals, under new leader Mark Carney, eeked out a minority government. The Conservatives were 27 points ahead in the opinion polls and were widely expected to win before Carney was named Liberal Party leader.

Wednesday, Gladu and the Liberal Party announced the MP would become a government member, stunning Aarssen and a lot of the local Conservative riding association members who had worked hard to help Gladu get elected.

“What we’re experiencing right now is just shock, disbelief, surprise and disappointment,” Aarssen told The Independent.

“We’re humans too, right? We’re reacting to a friendship we have, and we all are volunteers that have supported her. So it’s shocking to us. We’re kind of in a self-reflection mode right now.

“We’re deeply devoted to the Conservative cause. We think it’s a better path forward for Canadians. So yeah, it’s hard as a volunteer to see this disloyalty.”

Aarssen adds the last election showed the”majority of this riding has wanted a smaller government, more responsible spending…four elections in a row, wanting that to be realized, not the bigger government, irresponsible spending,” Aarson said. He adds the petrochemical and agricultural communities haven’t been helped by the Liberal government “and they want to change this.”

Aarssen wasn’t the only surprised Conservative in Sarnia-Lambton. The Independent broke the news to former Conservative MP Pat Davidson an hour after it happened. “I’m quite shocked at this news you’ve just told me so I haven’t really had time to digest it, but I’m surprised,” she said.

Davidson noted that many of Gladu’s comments on social media lately had been quite partisan, which added to her surprise.

Davidson, who served as the mayor in what is now Plympton-Wyoming and the warden of Lambton County, was part of the Harper government from 2006 to 2015 when she retired from politics.

“I always feel you should represent the people, but saying that you have to put yourself forward as representing something. And I was a Conservative, and I had no intentions of changing. I ran as a Conservative, and that’s what I was elected as, and I did everything I try to represent the people, but the people knew I was a Conservative,” she said.

Davidson added Gladu’s party change could create issues for her down the road, noting she recently said people who cross the floor should resign and seek re-election.

Al Broad agrees. The mayor of Dawn-Euphemia was vocal about the MP’s move.

“I do not believe for a minute that any MP should be, or MPP should be allowed to cross the floor,” he tells The Independent. “If you’re not happy with your politics – whether your party or your leader – then resign and allow a byelection to take place, because the people of Sarnia-Lambton voted in a Conservative member.

“The fact that right now we have a Liberal MP representing a riding that has got oil and gas as one of their biggest employers, and she is part of a party – the Liberal party – that wants and has tried to get rid of these oil and gas facilities all along…It’s terrible optics.”

In her comments Wednesday, Gladu said she would be able to advance Sarnia-Lambton’s interests better inside the government than from the outside. Broad said there may be some truth to that, but he wonders at what cost.

“What negotiation took place to get where we are today? How did she get across the floor? Something obviously was negotiated and that’s a part that upsets me,” he says. “You don’t know what has been negotiated. Sure, we might be able to get something more – who knows what’s going to happen with that? Like I said, as long as your morals and ethics can carry you and allow you to walk across …Sarnia-Lambton and hold your head high, congratulations, all the more power to you.”

Gladu’s floor crossing has been a hot topic in Dawn-Euphemia with people texting Broad with their opinions. “The 10 responses I got so far, A, they’re stunned, and B, they are extremely disappointed” adding many are Conservative voters.

“They didn’t vote for for her, necessarily, They voted for the Conservative Party.”