Conservative MP for Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt calls rumour of floor-crossing "totally ridiculous"

It's not clear where the rumour originated, but the Conservative MP for Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt is making his stance clear.

Jim Bélanger posted a short video to his Facebook profile on Dec. 23 saying he will not be crossing the floor to join the Carney Liberals, and any gossip to the contrary is "totally ridiculous and completely false."

He went on to make a promise to his constituents.

"I've been elected as a Conservative member," he said. "I will be a Conservative tomorrow. I will be running in the next election as a Conservative."

Two Conservative MPs have recently crossed the floor to become Liberals in recent weeks.

Acadie-Annapolis MP Chris d'Entremont joined the Liberals in November and Markham-Unionville MP Michael Ma left Pierre Poiliévre's caucus to fortify the Liberal ranks in December.

The federal Liberals are now one MP shy of holding a majority government.

David Tabachnik, a political science professor at Nipissing University, said Poiliévre has done fairly well in keeping his caucus in line until recently.

But he said with the Liberals becoming more centrist under the leadership of Mark Carney some Conservatives who don't lean as far right as Poiliévre have incentive to join the government.

While Belanger has made clear he won't be crossing the floor, Tabachnik said he fully expects someone else to seize the opportunity in 2026.

"If one person can cross the floor and make it a majority, then really you have years of governing" he said. "You can pass legislation and budgets. You can have an influence, and direct the country the way you want as an MP."

Tabachnik isn't hazarding any guesses who might cross and who might stay put.

"If you stay in the Conservative fold, you're going to have to fight that opposition fight, which indeed they've been fighting for about 10 years. So maybe the idea of governing is so attractive to some MP's that they will cross and I do expect to see that in the new year."