Q: Why now?

At this point in time, we’ve got the byelections coming up next week and I can do math, and it looks like to me they would be pretty sure to win two out of those three anyways. That would give them a majority, in which case I don’t matter. So, I thought it was better in terms of trying to get some support lined up for the riding to come in early.

She may be nutty, but she's no fool.

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.

If things work out for Gladu and her constituents, it’ll be interesting to see if the rumour that about 10 other Conservative MPs are considering jumping ship comes true. Hard to tell in this economy, though.