A University of Windsor political science professor is questioning why two members of the Conservative party crossed the floor to join the Mark Carney Liberals less than a year after the election.
Lydia Miljan told AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides that she thinks it has more to do with the individual than the Conservative party.
"There's obviously something within them. They either joined the party for the wrong reasons, they thought it was just a way to get into power, or there's a fundamental difference of opinion with the leader," she says. "But the leader hasn't changed, and the Conservative policies haven't changed, so it's a curious thing going on right now."
Conservative MP Michael Ma, who represents the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville, crossed the floor to the Liberal Party on December 11, the third MP since November to leave Conservative ranks.
Hours after the federal budget on Nov. 4, Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont joined the Liberals, saying he no longer "aligned with the ideals of what the leader of the Opposition had been talking about."
The same week, Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux was rumoured to be crossing the floor until he announced he would be resigning from the Conservative Party in spring 2026.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told The Canadian Press last week he believes Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to "manipulate and engineer" a majority government.
Poilievre is set to face a leadership review at the end of January in Calgary.
Miljan says with a leadership review coming up, her question to the MPs who are leaving is 'what's your rush?'
"It doesn't seem to be about the leader because that would be if there was an absence of an ability to switch. This is more about I want to be in power; I want to be on the so-called winning team," she says. "Then you have to ask questions if there were inducements. Did you get any kind of promises? Nudge-nudge, wink-wink."
Miljan says that having these Conservative members come over could split the Liberal caucus.
"It's going to cause more divisions within that party, unless that is what Carney wants to do and push the party much further to the right than it was under the Trudeau regime," she says.
All the moves have given the Liberals 171 seats in the House of Commons, one shy of a majority.
With files from CTV News