New Liberal MP admits Conservatives are ‘not going to vote for me in the future. That is their democratic right’

Heather Wright/The Independent

Marilyn Gladu knows her time in politics is now limited after crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party. But the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkjewanong MP says she did the right thing to help her community get the federal funding it needs.

Wednesday, Gladu, who had been elected to the House of Commons four times under the Conservative banner and garnered over 40,000 in the April 25 federal election, crossed the floor to the Liberal Party, to the shock of her community and most political pundits.

The reaction from long-time local Conservative voters was swift. The president of the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkjewanong federal riding association, Pete Aarssen, expressed “shock, disbelief, surprise and disappointment.”

Online, voters such as Kevin Brooks, said “She just end her political career.”

Gladu thought about that before making the decision. “It’s a hard thing, because anybody that crosses the floor is really not getting re-elected. That is what history says,” she tells The Independent. “But to be fair, with the time that I have remaining, we used to always be a bellwether riding; we always got good government support, and I’ve done my best in 10 years in opposition, but it’s not the same as when you’re on the government benches and the kind of support you can get.”

The MP says the idea to cross the floor sprouted in the summer as her local supporters started talking to her about Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“People like Mark Carney – huge favourability for him, 68 per cent I think, is where he’s at – and people who were long-term Conservatives (were) saying, ‘Look, we just don’t think Pierre can win. We don’t think he’s the leader we need. We think it’s Mark Carney. Why don’t you cross the floor?'”

Gladu says those conversations took place with her long-time supporters and constituents.

“People were stopping me in the grocery store,” Gladu says. “Even my long term donors, you know, we’re talking major donors that said to me, ‘Look, we like you, but really, this next election, we got to go back to who’s going to be in government, and I think it’s going to be Carney and his team.'”

Gladu went back to Ottawa and watched as four MPs – including three of her Conservative colleagues – became Liberal MPs.

“Everybody’s looking at one another on our (Conservative) side, going, ‘Who’s going to be next?’ And I didn’t think it was going to be me, really,” Gladu said.

But Gladu said she felt the Prime Minister was making progress on the issues that were important to her and her riding.

“All these things that Mark Carney had said he was going to do were starting to happen, right? Nation-building projects and bolstering the defense and addressing criminality.”

So when Liberal MPs started to talk to her about crossing the floor, Gladu said she thought, “This is probably better for everybody. I could stay and ask the same scripted questions 35 more times or I could put my experience globally and all the things that I know about business and help build the country.”

When she decided to join the government side, both Conservatives and Liberals were stunned. Even the president of the Sarnia-Lambton Bkjewanong Liberal riding association was surprised. The former Conservative MP has expressed views about COVID-19 and Donald Trump that were “disturbing and not helpful,” said Kim Fyfe, hours after learning Gladu joined the federal Liberal party.

“Her crossing the floor is completely out of the blue. We knew nothing about it,” said Fyfe.  “I want to remain open-minded about the future and see if she will mesh with Liberals.”

The MP herself even wondered about that.

“I was actually concerned that perhaps they would not want me because my views are strong, and everything I have said is on the public record,” Gladu tells The Independent.

“But (I) had a great conversation with the Prime Minister, and said, ‘Listen, I’ve said lots of terrible things about you and the party, so you know, we have to talk about that.’ And he said, ‘You know, I’m not interested in the past. What I’m interested in is the future and building the future. And you’ve got great skills. You work very well across the aisle. People speak very highly of you over here, and I would be really honored to have you join the team.'”

The day after the big switch, and over 17,400 comments about it on her Facebook page, Gladu says she “got a better reaction than I had anticipated, really.

“I was surprised at the number of people, Conservative supporters of mine, that said, ‘You know what, this was the right thing, brave decision. We still support you.'”

And the MP says she has been welcomed by her new Liberal colleagues. “Honestly, I have been more respected and treated better by the Liberal side, I would say, than my own party. And that is a sad thing.”

And she insists the moves was not about the Conservative Party or the leadership of Pierre Poilievre; it was, Gladu says, about “how, in the years that remain, can I best contribute to the riding and the country, and to be fair, for myself, to do something that uses my talents.”

One of Gladu’s priorities is bring federal funding for infrastructure projects to Sarnia-Lambton. She says she already has a meeting set up to talk with ministry officials about it. “I’m encouraged by that.”

While she hasn’t read the social media comments personally, Gladu is acutely aware that some people in the riding are furious, saying they voted for the Conservative Party, not her personally.

“My core values have not changed…I’m actually bringing those points of view across the aisle now,” Gladu says.

But Liberal voters are also scratching their heads over the move which brought the socially conservative member to the party. “Marilyn Gladu is on the record for positions that are anti-abortion, racist, anti-vaccine, and anti-2SLGBTQIA+. Clearly none of these were an issue for the governing Liberals,” said local NDP riding association president Skylar Maharaj. “Her party colours won’t disguise her views. If anything, we have learned more today about the values—or lack thereof—of this government.”

“There are concerns to be allayed. Obviously, people will worry that somehow things that the Liberals value are going to be changed overnight by something that I would say, I think that’s unlikely.”

Gladu adds when she ran for the Conservative leadership in 2020, she was constantly asked about her positions on those issues and said repeatedly she would not limit people’s right to choose. “I’m here to defend the freedoms and the rights of every Canadian. People can live how they live and love who they want to love, and, you know, I am a freedom person. Let’s protect everyone’s freedoms.”

After Gladu and Prime Minister Carney appeared before the cameras to talk about the floor crossing, Conservative MP’s found The Independent’s January 2026 story where Gladu backed a petition calling for floor-crossing MPs to step down so a byelection can be called. Her former colleagues urged Gladu to follow her stated conviction.

Gladu says she still does believe MPs who change parties should face the voters again. “The Elections Act has to be changed in order for that to happen, and I would be happy to run on my record. But the rules today are not that, and so until those rules are changed, you’re going to have people crossing the floor. It’s been happening for decades, and I think there is a change needed.”

When asked why then she would not resign now, Gladu said; “Because obviously I think that the right thing for the riding is for me to go to the government benches to advocate, I think, more effectively for the support that we need. And I think that’s better than causing a byelection. Nobody’s ready for that. Nobody has candidates ready for that. And you know, the reality is that 2029 is not that far away.

“I understand that people are angry at this point in time. It’s a shock. It was a shock for many people, but my hope is that as they reflect, they will go, ‘You know what? This is probably better for the riding.’ And the reality is, they’re not going to vote for me in the future. That is their democratic right. I really have to do what I think is right for the country, for the riding for myself, and that’s what I did.

“This is the right thing for the country, for our time. And so, you know, haters will hate. I have to accept that they have their views. It’s a democracy. They can have their views. But today, I feel good,” Gladu said.

“These are interesting times, but honestly, I think that Mark Carney is going to do the right thing for our country and we just need to all unite behind it and build the country.”