Canada

Q: What rewards, if any, are you expecting for crossing to the Liberals?

Well, you can’t actually be offered anything. That would be illegal. So, I did not get offered anything but, watching for 10 years, people on the government benches tend to get more for their ridings and their projects. Interestingly, after I crossed, I had a call yesterday from the infrastructure and housing minister’s office wanting to get together and talk about the things we need in Sarnia-Lambton. I had sent (minister) Gregor Robinson, when I was re-elected in 2025, a one-page of all the things that lined up with his file that we wanted in Sarnia. It went really nowhere, until I crossed the floor. This is what I’m hoping will be the result.

Q: What will you tell your former Tory colleagues?

I have nothing but respect for my Conservative colleagues. People who know me, they know my views, and my views have not changed. This is one of the first conversations I had with the prime minister. I said listen, I’ve said a lot of terrible things about you and the Liberal caucus so how are we going to square that? I was super pleased to hear from him, ‘I’m not interested in looking into the past. I’m interested in looking forward.’ How are we going to build the country at this critical moment? How are we going to address these very important issues like the tariffs, like our defence? I think that is the right approach and, to me, it’s a fresh start. It doesn’t take away the things that I’ve said. I will be persuasive in arguing why we need to do things in a different way. I think the prime minister is open to that, I know colleagues that have welcomed me from the Liberal side are also open to that.